Conference to review the implementation of the Law on Water Supply and Drainage and propose policies in the Law on Water Supply and Drainage

On June 2nd, 2023, in Hanoi, the Ministry of Construction in collaboration with the World Bank held a conference to review the implementation of the Law on Water Supply and Drainage and propose policies in the Law on Water Supply and Drainage. Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Tuong Van and Mr. Christophe Lemiere - Acting Director of World Bank project management in Vietnam co-chaired the conference.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Tuong Van spoke at the conference.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Minister Nguyen Tuong Van emphasized the important role of clean water in human health, maintaining and developing social security and developing the country. Vietnam does not have the highest legal document to mobilize and concentrate resources in ensuring stable and sustainable water supply and drainage; lack of sanctions for organizing the implementation and handling of violations related to ensuring safe water supply and drainage, and preventing water-borne diseases. Therefore, human life and health have not been effectively protected by law through water supply and drainage.

In addition, climate change and saltwater intrusion have negatively affected water supply and drainage activities, while regulations related to adaptation, mitigation and remediation of impacts of climate change on the water supply and drainage are asynchronous to limit the unified management of water supply and drainage activities nationwide.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Tuong Van emphasized that the practical requirement for Vietnam is to institutionalize the state management of water supply and drainage by laws, such as the Law on Water Supply and Drainage; review and adjust water supply development orientation and drainage development orientation in line with new requirements of the period; ensure safe water supply and drainage. The Prime Minister promulgated the 2023 Work Program of the Government and the Prime Minister, in which the Ministry of Construction was assigned to study and develop a draft Law on Water Supply and Drainage and submit it to the National Assembly in the period 2024 - 2025.

 Mr Christophe Lemiere spoke at the Conference

At the conference,  Mr. Christophe Lemiere said that the World Bank and the Ministry of Construction have had a close and effective cooperation relationship in water sector for many years. The World Bank was very impressed with the development of Vietnam's water sector  over the past time and appreciated the contribution of the Ministry of Construction to that development process. According to Mr. Christophe Lemiere, besides positive results, Vietnam's water sector  is currently faced with water pollution in river basins, affecting people's health and economic-social development; challenges from climate change for the development of Vietnam in general and the water sector in particular.

According to Mr. Christophe Lemiere, Vietnam needs to develop a synchronous policy framework and closely coordinate between ministries and local sectors and the Law on Water Supply and Drainage is an important contributor in this process. Opinions of managers, experts, and delegates at the conference will make an important contribution to the process of researching and developing a proposal as well as helping the World Bank in supporting and cooperation with Vietnam in water sector in the coming time.

Speaking at the conference, Director of the Department of Technical Infrastructure Ta Quang Vinh said that, over the past time, the Ministry of Construction has actively reviewed, synthesized and evaluated opinions of localities  along with  20 relevant Laws (including 14 Laws directly affecting the Government's Decree No. 117/2007/ND-CP dated 11/7/2007 on production, supply and consumption of clean water and Decree No. 80/2014/ND-CP on drainage and wastewater treatment), and closely coordinated with ministries, central agencies, units and enterprises in water sector to study and develop Law on Water Supply and Drainage, including: a draft assessment and summary of difficulties and obstacles in the implementation of the Law on Water Supply, Drainage and Wastewater Treatment; a draff on regulating water supply, drainage and wastewater treatment; draft detailed outline of the Law regulating Water Supply, Drainage and Wastewater Treatment; international experience of internaional organizations such as the World Bank, GIZ, and JICA in implementing process.

Delegates spoke at the conference

At the conference, representatives of central ministries, localities and experts gave suggestions to develop the Law on Water Supply and Drainage, focusing on: synchronization between the Law on Water Supply and Drainage and other relevant Laws; assessment the impact of socialization policy in water supply and drainage; introduction separate investment policies for water supply and drainage; more specification the inter-sectoral coordination mechanism to deal with incidents related to water supply and drainage; water supply and drainage planning should be integrated into provincial planning; clearly stating responsibilities of central ministries, branches and localities in the implementation process; ensuring the direction of the best water supply services for the people; promulgating regulations on investment incentives in water supply and drainage, management and maintenance of water drainage systems; building a database of water supply and drainage.

The whole conference

On behalf of the leaders of the Ministry of Construction, Deputy Minister Nguyen Tuong Van said that the comments at the workshop were great contribution to help Ministry of Construction in developing the Law Water Supply and Drainage.

According to the Organizing Committee, following this seminar, the Ministry of Construction will continue to organize similar seminars in the Central and Southern regions, ensuring the development and completion of the Proposal of the Law Water Supply and Drainage.