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At the meeting, Minister Tran Hong Ha mentioned that Viet Nam is one of the 16 countries with the highest level of biodiversity in the world, however, in terms of the number of species threatened of extinction, Viet Nam is the second country in East Asia. For three current global environmental challenges such as: climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental pollution, the Government of Vietnam is setting out important solutions and tasks on improving the policies in accordance with international regulations.

The Honourable Minister Tran Hong Ha expressed his high hopes for the cooperation between Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ and the Government of Viet Nam, especially with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE). Dr. Campilan expressed his agreement with the Minister on conservation contributing towards sustainable livelihoods in the country. In the future, the two institutions will strengthen their cooperation and support collaborative activities, in particular on nature conservation efforts, through practical and effective programmes and projects, helping Viet Nam to fulfil relevant international commitments, and contributing to global biodiversity conservation efforts.

During Dr. Campilan’s mission to Viet Nam, he also met with the Vice-Minister H. E. Le Quoc Doanh, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to discuss Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ taking over from the World Bank leadership of a GCF project on climate change adaptation in the Mekong Delta and MONRE Minister Tran Hong Ha to discuss the start-up of two GEF International Waters projects, one with Cambodia and another with Lao PDR, for which Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ is the lead cooperation partner and MONRE is the national executing agency. 

Dr. Campilan also attended a meeting with all Members of the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ Vietnam National Committee at which the new was presented. He also visited Van Long Nature Reserve, Southeast Asia’s first Green List site and stronghold of the Critically Endangered Delacour’s langur, where he met the Parks Director, who explained how ecotourism has improved livelihoods and protected the langur population, which has grown from 50 to 250 since 2010 – a major conservation success.

While it was his first visit to Viet Nam since joining the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ Asia Regional Office, Dr. Campilan’s first two weeks as the Regional Director in February 2021 were spent at the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ Hanoi office before relocating to Bangkok. His first task was to host an all-staff meeting for the five Lower Mekong Sub-region countries at which he explained Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ Asia’s new institutional design.