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The News N° 24 - March 2014
ASIA
FRom one conTinenT To anoTHeR
Laos
Integrated Management of the Nam Ngum River Basin
The work, which has been carried out
for two years with the Nam Ngum Basin
Committee and the Department of
Water Resources of MONRE, aims to
establish the conditions required for
Integrated Water Resources Manage-
ment in the basin.
In 2013, the effort focused on
the methodo-
logy for the preparation of the Program
of Measures
(definition, prioritization and
location of actions to carry out, identification of
the main challenges, cost estimate and finan-
cial balance, etc.) and on the study of potential
sources of funding for these measures.
In parallel, thinking about
the functioning
of the Nam Ngum Basin Committee
(composition, responsibilities, operating rules,
key objectives, etc.) was conducted with the
Secretariat of this Committee.
All the work done during this first phase of the
project allowed Laos to have practical expe-
rience and the management tools needed:
governance, local stakeholders’ empower-
ment, planning, financing mechanisms and
data management.
A training seminar was organized in Vientiane
on 3 April 2013.
The official presentation of the obtained
results took place on 18 June 2013 and allo-
wed defining priorities for the second phase
of the project (2014-2015).
This second phase comes at a key time for the
Nam Ngum River Basin Committee (NNRBC)
formally established by Decision no. 10 of the
Laotian Prime Minister on 29 January 2013.
The Committee Members, who are still largely
unfamiliar with the IWRM principles, will have
to be trained for their new responsibilities.
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Vietnam
Second phase of the Dong Nai Basin pilot project
The first phase of Dong Nai pilot project,
developed under a cooperation agreement,
signed in June 2007 by the French and Vietna-
mese Ministers for the environment, has
strengthened the institutional framework for
the conservation of water resources in Vietna-
mese river basins.
An assessment carried out in November 2012
noted significant progress made (new Vietna-
mese Water Act passed in June 2012, decree
establishing river basin organizations being
drafted), and paved the way for the prepara-
tion of a second phase of the project funded
by the Loire-Brittany Water Agency.
A kick-off seminar launching the second phase
of the project was held in Ho Chi Minh City on
31 October 2013 in the presence of Dr. Lai,
Vietnamese Vice-Minister of Water Resources,
Mr. Jacques Oudin, honorary Senator and
Member of the Loire-Brittany Basin Commit-
tee, as well as by the Director of the Loire-Brit-
tany Water Agency, Mr. Noël Mathieu.
This seminar was an opportunity to gather the
approached members of the Dong Nai Basin
Committee.
The second phase of the project is arti-
culated around three components:
l
Establishment of an operational Ba-
sin Committee;
l
Preparation of the Dong Nai Mana-
gement Plan;
l
Training in France for the technical
team in charge of supporting the
Dong Nai Basin Committee.
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Kick-off seminar of October 2013
The Nam Ngum dam
Participants in the training seminar on the methodology
for preparing the Program of Measures
