On July 12, 2023, the IWRP had a working session with the delegation of the Department of Water Resources Management (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) within the framework of the Water Scarcity Program (WSP) in the Asia Pacific region.

At the meeting, Mr. Thai Gia Khanh, Deputy Director General introduced the IWRP focusing on its strengths, areas of interest and possible cooperation fields within the framework of the WSP led by the UNFAO. Sharing at the meeting, Mr. Hugh Turral - FAO expert said that the Asia-Pacific WSP is a framework program designed for four countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Bangladesh to address and manage water scarcity for socio-economic development and environmental protection, especially in hydraulic work, agricultural production, and security food security. The long-term goal of the Program is to achieve sustainable use of water resources in all countries in the Asia-Pacific region in ensuring the sustainable use of water on the basis of a balance between social, human, economic and environmental needs in accordance with the availability of usable and supplementable surface and groundwater sources in the present and in the long term.

At the meeting, the parties had exchanges and discussions on water infrastructures and solutions to water resources planning in the regulation, use, protection and sustainable development of water resources and the environment in Vietnam. They also addressed the need of coordination and sharing of information among stakeholders in order to achieve the effectiveness of the Asia Pacific WSP in general and the WSP in Vietnam in particular.

IWRP’s Deputy Director General Thai Gia Khanh and his team expressed their interest in the Program and wished to have opportunities to cooperate and work with the Program partners in the near future.