With the support of AECEN, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DONRE) of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) will organize a training on "Principles and Tools for Effective Environmental Regulation: Sharing of Experience and Good Practices from Australia" on 9-10 March 2011 at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers, Ho Chi Minh City. The objectives of the training are to:

1. strengthen capacity of Vietnamese environmental staff for effective environmental regulation;
2. share Australian experience and practices --particularly on environmental protection licensing system and operator self-monitoring, self-reporting and recordkeeping of environmental performance--which could inform efforts to improve environmental compliance and enforcement in Vietnam; and
3. provide an opportunity for staff of DONRE of HCMC and its district offices to exchange ideas with Australian experts as well as colleagues from other Vietnamese environmental agencies on ways to improve environmental regulation in HCMC and the country .

The training will be conducted as part of a series of activities under the twinning partnership between DONRE of HCMC and the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW) of New South Wales, Australia, which was established in 2010 with the assistance of AECEN and the Australasian Environmental Law Enforcement and Regulators Network (AELERT). During the two days, experts from DECCW will conduct training activities which include presentations, case studies, interactive discussions and breakout group exercises. The training will be conducted in English with simultaneous Vietnamese translation. The event will be attended by representatives from DONRE of HCMC (11) and its district offices (24), DONRE from three other cities (3), the Ho Chi Minh City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (HEPZA) (1), and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) (2).