US SUPPORT FOR MARINE SCIENCE AND INTEGRATED

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 HANOI 002163 SIPDIS STATE FOR OES MARSHA GOLDBERG STATE PASS TO AID/ANE TRESCH, PATRICIA CHAPLINPCHAPLIN STATE PASS TO NOAA/OIA JJUSTIEPA DENNIS CUNNINGHAM STATE PASS TO DOE STATE PASS TO DOE/EE/OAKRIDGE BRUCE BUNTING BANGKOK FOR ECON JAMES WALLER BANKKOK FOR , AID/RDMA TIM BEANS, AID/RDMA WINSTON BOWMAN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV KSCA TBIO VM SUBJECT: US SUPPORT FOR MARINE SCIENCE AND INTEGRATED COASTAL MANAGEMENT IN VIETNAMVIETNAM: DUMPING GROUND FOR DIRTY FUELS? OR U.S. SUPPORT FOR CLEAN AIR IN VIETNAM ¶1. Summary. USAID's US-Asia Environmental Partnership (US- AEP) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA) have supported a program for cleaner air quality in Vietnam for several yearssince 1999. Thise program, which ends in September, has been an example of strong bilateral support between the United States and Vietnam. The program has focusedfocuses on tightening vehicle emissions and fuel quality standards and, including has resulted in the phase- out of leaded gas in 2001 and the adoption of European ("Euro") vehicle emission and fuel quality standards in ¶2005. Equally significant, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) has adopted a timetable for enacting Euro 3 and 4 standards by 2010. This is the first comprehensive fuel quality strategy for Vietnam and will have a profound effect on the health and quality of life of 80 million people. While representatives of the national oil refineries and international automobile/ motorbike manufacturers were supportive of the initiative, the primary fuel retailer (PetroLimex) strongly resisted efforts to move forward a "Roadmap" toward Euro standards, preferring to continue importing dirtier, cheaper fuels at a higher relative profit margin. If GVN fails to ratify Euro 3 and 4 standards in 2007 and 2010, Vietnam's predominantly import-oriented fuels market could effectively become a dumping ground for dirty fuels from China and elsewhere in the region. End Summary. Significant among these achievements is the broad stakeholder support catalyzed by US-AEP. Key government agencies, national refineries (under construction),and international vehicle/motorbike manufacturers including Ford Motor and Honda Motorbike have endorsed the US-supported "Roadmap" for Euro standards. However, Vietnam's primary fuel retailer, Petroleum Import Export Corporation (Petrolimex),has been recalcitrant. While GVN's recent announcement to enact Euro 2 standards is a positive step toward ensuring cleaner fuels, Vietnam still ranks near the bottom of a list of countries in Asia to enact Euro 3 and 4 standards for gasoline and diesel. If GVN and public opinion fail to exert adequate political pressure on lagging line ministries and state-managed corporations such as Petrolimex to adopt stricter Euro 3 and 4 standards as negotiated in the Roadmap, Vietnam's predominantly import-oriented fuels market will effectively become a dumping ground for dirty fuels from China and elsewhere in the region. End Summary. ¶2. In Vietnam's rapidly developing cities, ever increasing volumes of motorbikes, vehicles, and heavy-duty trucks are causing increasing levels of urban air pollution and associated health risks. The World Bank office in Hanoi estimates that approximately ten million motorbikes are on Vietnam's roads, comprising roughly 80 percent of vehicular traffic. The nation's automobile fleet, while still relatively small, is growing at about 15 percent per year in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and twenty20 percent per year in Hanoi. Increasing levels of air pollution in Hanoi and HCMC often exceed recommended guidelines for urban air quality. Vietnam News reported earlier this year that five percent of the country's population, or four million individuals, suffer from asthma. Other health risks of urban air pollution include respiratory illness, lung disease, and premature death. ¶3. Since 1999, USAID's US-Asia Environmental Partnership (US- AEP) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA) have supported a program for cleaner air quality in Vietnam. Activities have ranged from technical assistance to host country agencies and universities, small grants such as a sister-city clean air project between San Francisco and HCMC, and study exchanges to share environmental technologies and experiences in better air quality management from the U.S. and the region. Most notable outcome A significant milestone of these USG efforts in Vietnam is the successful phase-out of leaded gasoline in 2001, which benefitsprofoundly affects the health and quality of life of Vietnam's population of 80 million people. ¶4. Over the past two years, the US-AEP/Vietnam program has intensified efforts to boost GVN's capacity to manage urban air quality and to raise public awareness to the health affects of mobile source pollution. This has included support for Hanoi's first roadside air quality monitoring activity and support to the Health Effects Institute and East West Center to research health risk exposure levels to mobile source air pollution in HCMC. Chief among these efforts is US-AEP technical assistance and support to MOST and Vietnam Register/Ministry of Transportation to developbroad-based governmental and industry-wide support for a "Roadmap" for EURO standards for vehicle emissions and fuels quality. that has been catalyzed by US-AEP. Other activities include US-AEP/US-EPA support for ¶5. In July, the Minister of MOST signed Euro 2 vehicle emissions and fuel standards for gasoline and diesel. Equally as significant, MOST has adopted a timetable for enacting Euro 3 and 4 standards by 2010. This is the first comprehensive fuel quality strategy for Vietnam. According General Statistic Office figures reported in Vietnam News, Vietnam imported 7 million tons of fuel products in first seven months of 2005, which is a 7.1 percent increase in volume over the same period last year. The new fuel standards will be effective starting July 1, 2007. ¶6. According to Mr. Vu Van Dien, Director of Vietnam Standards Center, the draft fuel standard was amended fifteen times during the USAID-supported stakeholder review process. Key government agencies (namely Vietnam Directorate of Standards and Quality of MOST and Vietnam Register of the Ministry of Transportation),PetroVietnam's refinery department (NOTE: Vietnam is currently planning to build the nation's first major refineries, Dung Quat in Quang Nghai Province and Nghi Son in Thanh Hoa Province),international vehicle/motorbike manufacturers including Ford Motor and Honda Motorbike, and the World Fuels Quality Center have all endorsed the US-supported "Roadmap" for Euro standards. Vietnam's primary fuel retailer, Petroleum Import Export Corporation (Petrolimex),has resisted these efforts, preferring to continue importing dirtier, cheaper fuels at a higher relative profit margin. ¶7. COMMENT: GVN has made significant, positive steps toward improving vehicle emission and fuel quality standards. However, GVN could go further and faster in setting cleaner vehicle and fuel standards equal to the rest of ASEAN, especially given Vietnam's unique position as a fuel importer and that no refineries (in Vietnam) require costly retrofitting to produce cleaner fuels. If MOST succumbs to pressure from Petrolimex and ultimately fails to ratify Euro 3 and 4 standards in 2007 and 2010, Vietnam's predominantly import-oriented fuels market will effectively become a dumping ground for dirty fuels from China and elsewhere in the region. US-AEP/Vietnam has also leveraged support from the ADB's Clean Air Initiative in Asia, the Health Effect's Institute, and the East West Center to investigate linkages between air pollution, exposure risk to high concentrations of mobile sources of pollution, and poorer city dwellers in HCMC. The vanguard promoting this Roadmap includes USAID, Vietnam Directorate of Standards and Quality of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Vietnam Register of the Ministry of Transportation, Ford Vietnam, Honda Motorbike Company, and the World Fuels Quality Center. ¶5. One result of the US-AEP Cleaner Vehicles and Fuels program has been the ¶6. One result of the STATE/USAID/NOAA ICM project has been increased USG and NGO support for MOFI's mandate to develop and manage a national marine protected area system. This has led to a separate initiative for a pilot Marine Protected Area Training and Certification Program in Hon Mun MPA in Nha Trang. In partnership with MOFI, Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA),USAID, IUCN, Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy and United Nations Environment Program (UNEP),NOAA will have the lead for the pilot MPA training and certification program at Hon Mun MPA in Nha Trang. The two-year project aims to develop local and regional capacity and expertise in designating, implementing and managing MPAs with a major emphasis on improving enforcement ability of Vietnam's newly established MPAs. ¶7. Comment: NOAA has effectively built partnerships, bridged traditional barriers and delivered tangible, highly valued products here in Vietnam in a relatively short period of time. NOAA's work with Vietnam and China has stimulated improved dialogue between these two countries on marine management and conservation in the Gulf of Tonkin. NOAA also is the technical coordinator for a UNDP/Global Environment Facility/NOAA initiative launched this year for marine biodiversity conservation in China's southern seas. Three of the sites for this initiative are in the greater Tonkin Gulf region of China (Shankou, Weizhou and Sanya). NOAA's simultaneous presence in Vietnam and China and its credibility with both countries could lead to a new regional management framework for the Gulf of Tonkin in the future. Such a framework could help assuage the offshore territorial concerns. The Vietnam Mission strongly endorses providing funds for NOAA's continued engagement in the coastal Tonkin Gulf region. MARINE Assistant Administrator of NOAA's National Ocean Service Dr. Richard Spinrad led a five-person NOAA delegation to attend a wrap-up workshop of EAP-EI/USAID/NOAA project Building Capacity for ICM in Tonkin Gulf in Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam on March 13-16, 2005. Dr. Spinrad's visit to Hanoi and Ha Long City, Vietnam, highlighted the good cooperation between the GVN and USG on science and technology, particularly in the topics of coastal management, oil spill planning, and weather/flood forecasting. STATE/USAID/NOAA support during 2002-2005 is estimated at $850,000, funding projects such as Building Capacity for Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) in Tonkin Gulf; Improved Oil Spill Contingency Planning in Saigon River; and Establishing Pilot Marine Protected Area (MPA) Training and Certification Program in Vietnam. The ICM project has also facilitated greater cooperation and exchange between coastal managers in Vietnam and China. During the visit, Minister of Fisheries Dr. Ta Quang Ngoc and Dr. Nguyen Khoa Son, the Vice President of the Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology, expressed gratitude for the good cooperation between the GVN and USG in marine science and highlighted interest for increased support and cooperation in integrated coastal management, marine protected areas management, fisheries management, and oceanography. End Summary. ¶2. On March 14-16, Assistant Administrator of NOAA's National Ocean Service Dr. Richard Spinrad led a five-person NOAA delegation to attend a wrap-up workshop of EAP- EI/USAID/NOAA project Building Capacity for ICM in Tonkin Gulf in Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam. Dr. Spinrad also met with Minister of Fisheries Ta Quan Ngoc and Dr. Nguyen Khoa Son, the Vice President of the Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology. Dr. Spinrad made a presentation on the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy (USCOP) and the U.S. Ocean Action Plan to Vice Minister of Fisheries Nguyen Viet Thang, Vice Chairmen Nguyen Van Thanh of the Hai Phong People's Committee, and Mr. Tran Duc Lam, a representative of the Quang Ninh People's Committee. Advancing international ocean science and policy is one of the six recommended responses detailed in the U.S. Ocean Action Plan signed by President Bush in December 2004. Integrated Coastal Management in Northern Tonkin Archipelago -------------- -------------- ¶3. Since 2002, the Department of State's East Asia Pacific Environmental Initiative (EAP-EI),USAID, and NOAA have supported the project Building Capacity for Integrated Coastal Management in Tonkin Gulf in Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam. NOAA and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) are carrying out the project in partnership with Vietnam's Ministry of Fisheries (MOFI),the Hai Phong Institute of Oceanography (HIO),and the Ha Long Bay Management Authority (HLBMA) of Quang Ninh Province with technical support from NOAA's National Marine Sanctuaries Program (NMSP),USAID's US-Asia Environmental Partnership (US-AEP),UCLA (Reefcheck),and University of New Hampshire (Sea Grant). ¶4. The project has been highlighted in the Annual US-Vietnam Bilateral Science & Technology Meeting as an example of strong bilateral partnership support with both science-based and policy/management-driven project outcomes. Specific project outcomes to date include: baseline socio-economic assessments; habitat mapping of seagrasses and corals; SCUBA training; ecotourism planning workshops; policy analysis; environmental awareness/public outreach materials; translation of ICM technical documents into Vietnamese; and study exchanges to Florida Keys, Chesapeake Bay, and NOAA headquarters in Silver Spring, MD. ¶5. Project activities were designed to share information and knowledge amongst stakeholders from central-level agencies, provincial planning departments, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in Ha Long Bay World Heritage site and to build cooperation and to build programmatic linkages between resource managers and institutions in the US, Vietnam, and China. For example, mooring buoys were installed in Vietnam by technical experts from China using US-funded equipment. A June-2005 study exchange of Vietnamese officials to China is another example of the regional linkages of the USAID/NOAA project. ¶6. ICM seeks to balance inherent conflicts between economic development and environmental protection in the coastal zone. ICM emphasizes coordination in development planning horizontally across line ministries/departments and across geographic boundaries as well as horizontally from central to local levels and vice-versa. Conflicts in the project area include coal mining, aquaculture, deep seaport development, tourism development, and protection of unique cultural, biological, and seascape values of the World Heritage Site. ¶7. The first phase of this four-phase project began in 2002 and ends in March 2005. There is no funding for the second phase of the project. In December 2003, Embassy Science Fellow Anne Walton (NOAA) developed a Strategic Plan for Integrated Coastal management in the Northern Tonkin Archipelago, which forms the basis for next two phases of the project (see reftel 12958). Limited activities will continue in the interim, such as a GVN-funded study exchange to China's National Ocean Service. NOAA intends to submit a proposal to STATE/OESI for Phase II project support. During meeting between Ambassador Marine and Assistant Administrator Spinrad, Ambassador Marine expressed support for NOAA's continued technical assistance to GVN in a few targeted, results-oriented projects, including ICM in the Northern Tonkin Archipelago. Improving Oil Spill Response Planning in Saigon River Estuary -------------- -------------- ¶8. Since 2003, the USAID's US-Asia Environmental Partnership (US-AEP) and NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration have supported the project Improved Oil Spill Contingency Planning in Saigon River in Vung Tau Province, Vietnam in partnership with PetroVietnam and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province People's Committee. The project seeks to improve the human and institutional capacity at local and regional levels to respond to and plan for coastal/marine oil spills. Outcomes include study exchanges to US to understand Tier 1-3 response systems, stakeholder discussions on adopted oil spill contingency plan, technical training in science of oil spills and shoreline assessment, and development of geographic response planning (GRP) maps for the Vung Tau province. ¶9. During March 7-11, USAID, NOAA, and US Coast Guard Strike Team staff and contractors conducted a 5-day training workshop on Oil Spill Response and Shoreline Assessment in the Saigon River in Vung Tau City. The workshop was co- sponsored by the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province People's Committee and PetroVietnam. The training focused on the science of oil spills, response planning at local, regional and national levels, and a field trip/shoreline assessment of how to respond to oil spills at beach, mangrove, and mudflat habitats. Over thirty officials from government agencies, port authorities, and regional oil spill response teams from Vung Tau, HCMC, Dong Nai, Binh Thuan, Danang, and Hanoi participated in a tabletop oil spill emergency response drill. ¶10. Over 10,000 vessels per year traverse the shipping lanes of the lower Saigon River, an area that supports aquaculture, tourism, and mangroves of the Can Gio UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve. Roughly 6-8 significant oil spills occur every year, challenging local authorities and fisherfolk to improve response and remedies. With oil/gas development, tourism, and fisheries topping the list of Vietnam's hard-currency earning sectors, GVN has been keen to improve their capacity in oil spill response. ¶11. In February 2005, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung reportedly requested the National Committee for Search and Rescue to expedite plans to establish three regional oil spill response centers for the northern, central, and southern regions of Vietnam. PetroVietnam has been authorized to manage and operate the oil spill response center for the southern region, while a company owned by the Vietnamese Navy operates the oil spill response center for the middle region. Support for Pilot Marine Protected Area Training and Certification Program in Hon Mun MPA in Nha Trang -------------- -------------- ¶12. On March 18, NOAA and USAID staff met with MOFI, DANIDA, IUCN, and Conservation International officials to discuss development of a pilot project Marine Protected Area (MPA) training program in Vietnam. Working in partnership with MOFI, DANIDA, USAID, IUCN, Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, SeaWeb, and UNEP, NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) will be the lead USG office to support the pilot MPA training and certification program at Hon Mun MPA in Nha Trang. The two-year project aims to provide a knowledge base for developing local and regional capacity and expertise in designation, implementation, and management of MPAs with major emphasis on improving enforcement capacity of Vietnam's newly established MPAs. The Embassy Science Fellow Anne Walton (NOAA/NMSP) is the project coordinator. ¶13. Under the Law on Fisheries (2004),MOFI has authority to designate and manage a national MPA system. The MPA system currently consists of 15 sites, most of which are "paper parks" that lack on-the-ground law enforcement or conservation capabilities. Since 2001, the World Bank/Global Environment Facility, DANIDA, and IUCN have supported a four-year, US$2 million project with the Ministry of Fisheries and Khanh Hoa Province to develop an effective provincial MPA authority and a system for co- management with local resource users. A follow-on DANIDA project is under development and will likely focus on support to the National MPA System, including support to Hon Mun, Cu Lao Cham, and Phu Quoc Island MPAs. GVN Interest in Continued US Support for Marine Sciences Research and Education -------------- -------------- ¶14. On March 16, Dr. Spinrad met with Minister of Fisheries Ta Quang Ngoc. The Minister noted that fisheries are a vital economic and food resource for the Vietnamese people, especially poorer populations. The Minister expressed deep gratitude for U.S. cooperation and support for coastal management initiatives in Vietnam and could expand to include fisheries resource conservation. The Minister also expressed a desire to move beyond multilateral (e.g. APEC) and bilateral talks and develop long-term technical assistance initiatives. The Minister was very pleased to receive a copy of the U.S. Ocean Action Plan that was presented by Dr. Spinrad. ¶15. Dr. Spinrad also made called on Dr. Nguyen Khoa Son, the Vice President of the Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology (VAST). Dr. Son listed VAST's programmatic priorities as follows: biotechnologies; information technologies; environmental technologies; biological research; marine science and technologies; disaster prevention and natural hazardous; electronics and instrumentation; and seismology and earthquakes. VAST's annual budget for 18 research institutes, including the National Oceanographic Institute, is approximately US$50-80 million. VAST is constructing new laboratories (US$3 million each) for genetics, information technologies/ electronics, and plant science technologies. Future laboratories are reportedly planned to include microbiology, robotics, and satellite/earth observing. ¶16. Remarking on the good cooperation between GVN and USG in science and technology, the Dr. Son expressed strong interest in expanding scientific cooperation with NOAA, especially in oceanography. Dr. Son wants to expand bilateral cooperation beyond short visits between researchers and to engage in joint-research projects, but needs financial support and seeks identification of mechanisms to fund US-Vietnam research projects. Dr. Son was also interested in placing more Vietnamese candidates in U.S. universities through the Vietnam Education Fund. BOARDMAN