The Vietnamese Ministry of NaturalResources and Environment and the Indian Department of Space willpromote cooperation in remote sensing and outer space technology viajoint projects in human resources training and in applying remotesensing technology.

The two sides made the jointdecision during working sessions between a delegation of the Vietnameseministry, which made a three-day visit to India recently, andofficials from India’s Ministry of External Affairs, Department ofSpace, and Space Research Organisation.

Acooperation agreement between Vietnam’s Ministry of Natural Resourcesand Environment and India’s Department of Space was also discussedby the two sides.

The two sides reviewedpreparations for establishing a centre for satellite tracking and datareception and processing for ASEAN – to be located in Vietnam, aspart of the ASEAN-India cooperation framework.

Afterthree years of preparation, the project has been approved by the ASEANSecretariat and the Indian Government, with a total budget of 23 millionUSD sourced from the ASEAN-India cooperation fund.

The two sides agreed to jointly survey the suitable location for thestation – expected to be in Ho Chi Minh City, and build a feasiblereport while training Vietnamese personnel to operate the centre.

India will pay for the installation and operation costs for theproject in the first five years, and supply remote sensing images freeof charge to ASEAN member states for five years.

TheVietnamese delegation also held a meeting with India’s Ministry ofEnvironment, Forests and Climate Change, during which the two sidesconcurred on building bilateral cooperative projects on climate changeand biodiversity conservation.-VNA