Vietnam signs renewable energy cooperation with Denmark

On June 18, in Hanoi, a MoU signing ceremony between Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade (Vietnam MOIT) and the Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Building on cooperation in energy saving and renewable energy industry took place.

The MOU is in formulation at a time when governments around the world join hands to cooperate in order to improve energy efficiency and increase the use of renewable energy with an effort to mitigate climate change. Like other emerging economies, the energy demand is rapidly increasing to threaten the security of energy supply and to intensify the reliance on energy supplies from foreign sources.

Vietnam-Denmark-Mou-energy

The signing ceremony will promote the partnership on the basis of mutual benefits. Vietnam and Denmark will set high priority for co-operation and capacity building between the parties.

The support will be through expertise exchange, with study tours of the experts, scientists, private companies and other relevant units, to share experiences on energy issues, especially energy savings and renewable energy.

Under this agreement, Denmark will support the preparation of an energy analysis, bringing a new strategy to the government of Vietnam. Accordingly, government agencies and research institutes of Vietnam will work with experts from Denmark to build a comprehensive model to serve the analysis and to optimize the energy system in Vietnam.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Mr. Cao Quoc Hung, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade said the Ministry has received support from the Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Building. This signed memorandum is to further promote the cooperation on energy efficiency between Vietnam and Denmark.

Denmark-Ambassador-John-Nielsen

Danish Ambassador, H.E. John Nielsen confirmed that Vietnam and Denmark have a relationship in long-term cooperation on energy and climate change. He expresses his joy to be involved in collaborative activities between the two countries. Also, he hopes that Vietnam would implement policies on the sustainable use of renewable energy, energy efficiency and apply the newly introduced clean technology to promote a green economy.

The memo identifies 5 areas for priority cooperation and 10 forms of cooperation. The cooperation mainly focused on: Developing professional regulations as a legal basis to support the implementation of the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy in Vietnam; Promote the economical and efficient use of energy in small and medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam; Develop new programs and projects related to the implementation of the National Target Program on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy, Green Growth strategy, as well as other national policies and strategies, which are potentially to receive financial support from international donors; Strengthening the technical capacity for staff of Energy Conservation Office – Ministry of Industry and Trade and the officials from Provincial Departments of Industry and Trade.

Since 2011, Vietnam and Denmark have established strategic partnership in the field of climate change response, environment, energy and green growth. Vietnam and Denmark have also initiated long-term dialogues term on Low Carbon Transition in Energy Efficiency in Vietnam energy sector, with focused support to the National Target Program on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy Program (VNEEP) during the 2013-2015 period.

The Low Carbon Transition in Energy Efficiency Project (LCEE Project) is the evidence for the cooperation between Vietnam and Denmark in the energy sector. The project sets a target to raise awareness about energy savings in roughly 500-1000 small and medium-sized enterprises. At the same time, it is the joint efforts in implementation of 150-250 sub-projects of energy savings and support to 5 provinces to promulgate local policies and programs on energy efficiency.

The project has a capital fund of VND110 billion from the Danish government to support small and medium-sized enterprises in 3 sectors: brick, ceramics and food processing so that they can access to preferential loans.

Source: Minisry of INdustry and Trade

About Joakim Persson

Freelance business and lifestyle photojournalist

View all posts by Joakim Persson

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *