Da Nang, Viet Nam, 25 June 2018 – The Ministry of Planning and Investment , the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences organized an event on “Sustainable industrial development in Vietnam: the eco-industrial park initiative”, which took place today, on the margins of the 6^th GEF Assembly.

“An eco-industrial parks combines different approaches, including the application of cleaner technologies in individual firms, the exchange of waste materials, industrial and urban symbiosis, infrastructure and environmental planning and the management of the industrial zone”, said Director General Tran Duy Dong, Department for Economic Zones Management, Ministry of Planning and Investment.

“The eco-industrial park concept crosses over to resource efficiency, circular economy and sustainable cities”, said Reymond Marcel, SCO Head of Cooperation at the Swiss Embassy in Viet Nam. “Collective facilities are not limited to common effluent treatment plants, but can include high-performance collective energy plants or interfirm steam and compressed air networks that would have been unaffordable for a single company”. High-level representatives from the public and private sector discussed the current development state of eco-industrial parks in Viet Nam and the way forward.

At the global level, UNIDO has been working on developing eco-industrial parks, predominantly under the Swiss-funded global Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production (RECP) programme. With the support of the GEF, UNIDO has been implementing a comprehensive project on eco-industrial parks in Can Tho, Da Nang and Ninh Binh, which will be completed in 2019. UNIDO Director Stephan Sicars of the Environment department moderated the event.

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Jerome Stucki , Industrial Development Officer, UNIDO Emerging Compliance Regimes Division, UNIDO (Vienna), [email protected]

Ms. Tran Thanh Phuong, National Project Manager, Ministry of Planning and Investment -UNIDO, EIP Project (Vietnam), [email protected]