With assistance from the Australasian Environmental Law Enforcement and Regulations Network (AELERT), AECEN has established a twinning partnership between the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DONRE) of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW) of New South Wales, Australia. Focusing on industry self-monitoring, self-reporting and recordkeeping of environmental performance, the partnership has an objective to improve institutional capacity at DONRE through dialogue and technical exchanges, leading to the adoption of improved policies and practices for HCMC.

Between August 8-14, 2010, a Vietnamese delegation from DONRE visited Sydney for an observational program organized by DECCW. Main activities included presentations and discussions, a number of site visits, and a visit to the Land and Environment Court of NSW. Through these activities, the Vietnamese delegation learned about how industries and environmental impacts are managed in NSW and exchanged ideas with DECCW staff on approaches to improve the environmental licensing and monitoring system in HCMC.

As an outcome of the visit, DONRE will prepare an action plan to improve its system, focusing on simplifying and rationalizing self-reporting requirements and developing an information management system. To support the plan, DONRE also invited DECCW to visit HCMC to conduct a training event on environmental regulation for staff of DONRE and other local agencies. AECEN will provide support for the continuation of the twinning partnership as well as the preparation and conduct of the proposed training event.