Hanoi, Viet Nam. Following the GEF Secretariat’s approval of the Project Identification form (PIF) and Project Preparation Grant (PPG) in the GEF Council in June 2019, the project “Fostering Water and Environmental Security in the Ma and Neun/Ca Transboundary River Basins and Related Coastal Areas”  covering Lao PDR and Viet Nam entered the formal preparation phase.
The PPG team has prepared the final draft project document in close consultation with the two governments.

The validation workshop video conference today brought together key government agencies from Lao PDR and Viet Nam to meet and agree on the full project submission package to the GEF.

Participants to the video conference workshop also included representatives from FAO Asia Pacific, FAO Viet Nam, FAO Laos, and Mekong Region Futures Institute (MERFI).

The objective of this project is to enable Viet Nam and Lao PDR to address freshwater resource management and ecosystem health in the transboundary Ma and the Neun/Ca river basins and coastal zones by creating an enabling environment for transboundary cooperation and action. This project is the first of the FAO RAP-led transboundary freshwater projects portfolio under the International Waters (IW) focal area of the GEF.