At a recent Osaka and Kansai Investment and Trade Promotion Seminar held recently in Ho Chi Minh City, Japan expressed its interest in wastewater and refuse treatment in Ho Chi Minh City. This is a chance for the city to acquire experience in urban wastewater treatment and environmental solutions.
Mr Thai Van Re, Director of HCM City Department of Planning and Investment, said Ho Chi Minh City is the economic, cultural, scientific, technical centre and an international gateway of Vietnam. The city is facing lots of challenges during the development process, including wastewater and refuse management and environmental protection. It lacks water for production and living activities due to impacts of climate change, water pollution and salinisation. Besides, the rate of clean water leakage is possibly the highest in the country, approximately 40 percent. The municipality also consumes a huge volume of natural resources and energy (about 49 million KWh a day) while releasing into the environment a corresponding volume of waste and pollutants which cause environmental pollution and reduce environmental quality.
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In the framework of the working visit, Mr Kunio Hiramatsu, Mayor of Osaka, who led the Japanese delegation consisting of 12 high-ranking officials in Osaka and Kansai, and Mr Nguyen Thanh Tai, Vice Mayor of HCM City, signed a memorandum of understanding on "prioritised fields of cooperation” for the period from 2011 to 2015. This will lay the groundwork for promoting bilateral cooperation in economic, human resources, environmental and water management fields.
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Currently, to deal with environmental challenges, the city is completing a master plan for water supply system till 2025 to ensure the clean water supply for livelihood and production, and build plans to respond to climate change and prevent urban flooding caused by rain and flood tides. In addition, the largest commercial hub in Vietnam is also aggressively carrying out environmental pollution reduction programmes, building waste treatment plants, and consulting and supporting businesses to apply clean and environment-friendly technologies.
Osaka, a lowland city like HCM City, has been very successful in preventing flooding, treating waste and protecting the environment by applying modern technologies. On this occasion, HCM City can learn from the experience of Osaka to apply it to its development process and realise the target of sustainable development and deepen relationships between HCM City and Osaka.
Mr Kunio Hiramatsu, Mayor of Osaka, said: Osaka was a seriously polluted city about 50 years ago. The city suffered severe flooding whenever the tide was high or it rained heavily. But now, Osaka is one of the greenest cities in the world, attracting a lot of travellers every year.
He also demonstrated his speech with a leading water treatment technology in Osaka. When contaminated water is treated into ultrapure water called Honmaya, it meets the ISO 22000 certification. Consumers rest assured when they drink this Honmaya water.
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Cooperation Opportunities in Mechanical, Supporting Fields
Also during this visit, apart from coordinating in hosting the Osaka and Kansai Investment and Trade Promotion Seminar, the Ho Chi Minh City Branch of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI-HCM) also held a business matching called “Vietnam - Japan business opportunities” for companies of both sides to seek partners operating in mechanical and supporting industries.
About 24 Japanese businesses attended the meeting. They mainly produce automotive parts, semiconductors, plastics educational equipment, toys, socks, wooden products, and bamboo-based products. "Japanese companies are looking for Vietnamese partners operating in these fields," said Noritada Ito, a representative for the Japanese business delegation.
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Noritada Ito, has many opportunities and advantages to become a leading business in the region, far ahead of other countries. However, still lacks some conditions like capital and technology. By cooperating with Japanese companies, the Vietnamese side will learn more ways to access capital and high technologies. |
He said to obtain these impressive results, Osaka uses many different ways, including using water pumping systems, building underground facilities beneath green parks to store rainwater, recycling waste into energy, measuring rainwater to map out flooding prevention plans. “Osaka is very willing to exchange experiences and technologies used for handling environmental issues that Ho Chi Minh City is facing,” Mr Kunio Hiramatsu added.
In the past two years, Osaka has partnered with the Saigon Water Supply Company to establish a prefeasibility project pertaining to upgrading water pressures for HCM City. They are waiting for aid response from the Japanese Government.
Ha Linh
Vietnamese
