United Nations helps Vietnam build eco-friendly industrial zones

The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) has announced a project to help Vietnam implement an eco-industrial park initiative in a move to make local industrial zones more sustainable.

Under the project, sewage will be treated to meet international standards.
Under the project, sewage will be treated to meet international standards.

The project will be carried out over 36 months with at an estimated cost of more than US$53 million, of which US$4.5 million is co-financed by UNIDO, the Global Environmental Facility, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

Under the project, at least 45 enterprises in industrial parks in Ninh Binh, Da Nang and Can Tho will be selected to take part in programmes that promote the application of clean technology and efficient use of natural resources.

The project is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 182,000 tonnes per year and sewage discharge by 6 million cubic metres per year. The quality of sewage treated under the project will also meet international standards.

According to Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen The Phuong, the rapid development of industrial parks has helped Vietnam drive industrialisation but has brought about major environmental challenges.

Patrick Gilabert, a UNIDO representative in Vietnam, said the project would facilitate the transformation of industrial parks into eco-industrial parks by promoting sustainable industrial production practices.