Royal HaskoningDHV Vietnam and Safe, Prosperous, Sustainable Mekong Delta
“With our diverse experience and integrated approach, Royal HaskoningDHV is capable to support the strategic co-operation between Vietnam and the Netherlands”, expressed Mr Lars Crombach, Managing Director of Royal HaskoningDHV in a talk with Vietnam Business Forum. Le Phuong reports.
How has Royal HaskoningDHV’s expertise and experience contributed to the Vietnam market?
Royal HaskoningDHV is an independent, international engineering and project management consultancy with over 130 years of experience, nearly 7,000 staff worldwide and 100 offices in 35 countries. Our professionals deliver services in among others the fields of industry, energy, infrastructure, transport, maritime, water management, water technology, aviation, buildings, urban planning and mining across the world.
Royal HaskoningDHV is almost 30 years active in Vietnam. We have provided world-class solutions in the fields of climate change and water management through a number of co-operative strategic projects, such as the Mekong Delta Plan and other programs co-funded by the Dutch government and international financing institutions. Key projects continue to be undertaken, related to water management, flood protection, water treatment and supply of clean drinking water, upgrading the living conditions in urban and rural areas.
In the industrial sector Royal HaskoningDHV has contributed expertise and experience to numerous projects, notably in the food & beverages, fast moving consumer goods and manufacturing sector. For example many brewery projects, dairy plants, coffee factories, assembly plants and shipyards. Through the engineering and project management of FDI and local invested projects, we have facilitated our clients to build new state-of-the-art factories in Vietnam and bring their new and innovative products to the Vietnamese market.
We started our maritime consultancy in Vietnam in 2008. Since then we have employed activities in almost every port in Vietnam, from feasibility studies and master planning to detailed design and construction management. Currently, we are also involved in various energy related projects. One of them is Nghi Son Petrochemical Refinery Complex, a joint venture between state-owned Viet Nam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and foreign partners from Kuwait and Japan. Royal HaskoningDHV has been appointed to carry out the marine engineering consultancy services. When finished it will be Vietnam’s second refinery and it is considered to be one of the country’s largest and most important projects.
Royal HaskoningDHV is continuously supporting Vietnam’s SOE’s in a number of projects related to the feasibility of importing resources like LNG and CNG, important for diversifying Vietnam’s energy supply, making it less vulnerable for global economic changes and aiming at sustaining its growth.
What would you like to share about the Vietnam-Netherlands’ relationship and how it will be strengthened by strategic cooperation on governmental level, for example by the Dutch Prime Minister’s visit to Vietnam this June?
Vietnam and the Netherlands have a long history together, going back even before the official diplomatic relations since 1973. Many of the older Vietnamese remember Dutch entrepreneurs or companies supporting Vietnamese communities even before 1973, by for example constructing dams and sluices in rural areas. Many Vietnamese therefore see The Netherlands as a trustworthy and supportive partner.
With the current need in Vietnam for diversification of the energy supply to reduce the chance of being affected by global changes, surrounded and dependent on regional ‘larger’ economies and pressured by climate change, the Dutch government plays an important role in supporting the use of Dutch know-how in these fields. With the FDI policies changing in Vietnam, there are increasing possibilities for Dutch businesses and further strategic cooperation.
The Mekong Delta Plan is the result of close cooperation between the governments of the Netherlands and Vietnam, how did Royal HaskoningDHV become involved in this plan?
The governments of Vietnam and the Netherlands have a strategic partnership arrangement on climate change adaptation and water management. Within this framework Royal HaskoningDHV has won a tender from the Dutch government as the leading partner in a consortium with Wageningen University, Rebel and Deltares. The consortium has established a long-term vision (until 2100) and a strategic advice for a safe, prosperous and sustainable Mekong delta, in which a strategic action plan is prepared to respond to climate change and sea-level rise towards 2050 in the Mekong delta.
What is the main driver behind the Mekong Delta Plan and how it is formulated?
Mekong delta has outstanding natural resources and comparative advantages for agriculture over other regions in Vietnam and even worldwide. At the same time the delta is one of the most vulnerable areas regarding its economic development, its low situation causing floods and salinity and its downstream position, subject to desired and undesired upstream river developments. The expected climate change also adds to this vulnerability.
Controlling flood, fresh water supply, salinity and water quality depends very much on the economic power of the delta and vice versa. Smart use of the natural resources land and water, either fresh or salt, contributes to the attractiveness for investors to cope with the typical land and water related problems of the delta. A comprehensive plan needs to be established. The main driver behind the Mekong Delta Plan is socio-economic development.
The Mekong Delta Plan formulates firstly physical measures required to deal with the typical water-related problems. Second, there is the ambition and need to pursue the agro-business industrialization. This requires decision making across the lines of the ministries, the provincial and country borders. The Mekong Delta Plan explicitly formulates recommendations for those issues in governing the Mekong delta.
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