The Inception workshop of the project:  “Enhancing sustainability of the Transboundary Cambodia - Mekong River Delta Aquifer for Viet Nam and Cambodia” to be funded by GEF was held virtually on 7 September 2020  with participants from Vietnamese and Cambodian’s government level, FAO Viet Nam and FAO Regional office for Asia and the Pacific. 

The objectives of the workshop are to present

• the objectives and structure of the project as defined in the GEF-approved Project Identification Form (PIF);

• the goals and team for the Project Preparation Grant (PPG) phase;

• a description of the mandatory contents of the final Project Document;

• the GEF 7 Results Framework and the PPG work plan;

• the process for securing all mandatory documents.

The groundwater resources have a considerable impact on human livelihoods and socio-economic development. Groundwater is critical for rice production and makes a substantial contribution to the national GDP of Viet Nam. The lower section of the Mekong River Basin is underlain by a major transboundary aquifer system shared by Cambodia and Viet Nam: The Cambodia – Mekong River Delta Aquifer. This transboundary aquifer system (TBA) connects two ecosystems of global environmental significance and socio-economic importance: the Tonle Sap area and the Mekong Delta, and includes some major urban areas, including Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City.

In this context, Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment (MoE) and Viet Nam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) have partnered with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to propose the project:  “Enhancing sustainability of the Transboundary Cambodia - Mekong River Delta Aquifer” to be funded by the GEF International Waters (IW) Focal Area. 

The proposed project - targeting the main aquifer of the Lower Mekong Basin shared by Viet Nam and Cambodia - will complement the recently approved GEF-World Bank project.

The Project objective is to strengthen environmental sustainability and water security in the Lower Mekong Basin by focusing, for the first time, on improved governance and sustainable utilization of the Cambodia-Mekong River Delta Transboundary Aquifer.