Deputy Minister Nguyen Tuong Van worked with the Regional Director Asia-Pacific of the United Nations Human Settlement Program (UN-Habitat)

Deputy Minister Nguyen Tuong Van had a working session with the delegation of the United Nations Human Settlement Program (UN-Habitat) led by Mr. Bruno Dercon, Regional Director Asia-Pacific to further strengthen cooperation between two sides, in presence of leaders of units under the Ministry of Construction and experts from UN-Habitat, on March 10^th.

The whole conference

Mr. Bruno Dercon thanked Deputy Minister Nguyen Tuong Van and leaders of units under the Ministry of Construction for warm welcome and said that, UN-Habitat cooperated regularly with many ministries and branches of Vietnam, including the Ministry of Construction. Currently, UN-Habitat is actively supporting Vietnam to develop and complete national policies; improve the capacity and quality of human resources; urban areas, environment, climate change adaptation.

Appreciating Vietnam's participation in UN-Habitat's global events, Mr. Bruno Dercon also informed about the upcoming meetings of the UN-Habitat General Assembly in Kenya and the Development Forum in Egypt. UN-Habitat had sent an invitation to the Government of Vietnam as one of the most active partners.

Regarding the Project “Strengthening institutions and building capacity for urban development in Vietnam” (proposed by UN-Habitat in collaboration with the Ministry of Construction, sponsored by SECO, launched from April 2021), Mr. Bruno Dercon assessed that the two sides were on the right way. The project would be accelerated in the near future.

Mr. Bruno Dercon emphasized that UN-Habitat desired to further strengthen and expand cooperation with the Ministry of Construction; proposed that the two sides discussed and agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on the contents to be implemented next year and affirmed UN-Habitat's commitment to long-term cooperation with the Ministry of Construction.

Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Minister Nguyen Tuong Van highly appreciated the attention and close cooperation of UN-Habitat with the Ministry of Construction in recent years, and affirmed that UN-Habitat was an important bridge to connect Vietnam with other countries in the world.

According to Deputy Minister Nguyen Tuong Van, in Vietnam, UN-Habitat is implementing and cooperating in the fields related to the state management of the Ministry of Construction. The MoC will assign relevant units as the conpact point to discuss with the UN-Habitat on cooperation contents in the near future, towards the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Construction and UN-Habitat.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Tuong Van and Regional Director Asia-Pacific (UN-Habitat) Bruno Dercon took a photo

In the near future, the Ministry of Construction will submit to the Government legal projects such as the Law on Urban Planning and Rural Development; Law on Urban Development Management… All areas that UN-Habitat has extensive experience by assisting countries around the world in completing national policies. Therefore, the Ministry of Construction wants UN-Habitat to have specific programs to support the Ministry of Construction and localities in improving state management capacity in all areas of the sector, especially in the field of planning and urban development.

At the end of the meeting, Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Tuong Van and Regional Director Asia - Pacific (UN-Habitat) Bruno Dercon reaffirmed the desire to further strengthen the cooperation relationship between the two sides.