TraVinh (VNA) – A training workshop on integrating environmental issuesin the implementation of projects is being held by the Small and Medium-sizeEnterprises (SME) Development Project Management Board in the Mekong Deltaprovince of Tra Vinh for local departments and administrations on April 26-27.

LocalSMEs have paid little attention to environmental protection so thatenvironmental factors should be incorporated into the implementation of SMEprojects in Tra Vinh from 2014-2020, said Pham Van Be Sau, Deputy Director ofthe Tra Vinh SME Development Project Management Board.

Atthe training workshop, environmental experts provided attendees an insight intoenvironmental impacts on the implementation of a project and hereby helpedlocal companies to develop a plan for effective environmental protection duringtheir production.

Accordingto Global Affairs Canada, environmental sustainability is an important componentof the sustainable development, said Trinh Hoa, an environmental specialistfrom the Embassy of Canada in Vietnam. GAC's policy framework requiresenvironmental sustainability to be incorporated in all programmes, he added.

Hoaanalysed environmental impacts of the Tra Vinh SME project, particularly insupporting local SMEs to improve value chains of coconut and peanut productionand to develop infrastructure.

Theexpert also suggested ways to reduce such environment impacts and providedinstructions on how to integrate environmental issues

Theproject, funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development ofCanada, is being carried out in Tra Vinh from 2014-2020. The project has aninvestment of 12.1 million CAD, including 11 million CAD sourced from Canada.

Ithas been benefiting about 200 local companies and more than 194,000 people in22 rural communes in the province.-VNA