Attending the ceremony were Mr. Ho Quang Buu - Vice Chairman of People’s Committee of Quang Nam Province; Mr Olivier Brochet, French Ambassador to Vietnam; Mr. Jesús Laviña - Deputy Head of Cooperation, Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam; Mr. Hervé Conan - Country Director of AFD Vietnam, and representatives of Hoi An City's People Committee, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Department of Finance, Department of Planning and Investment, and Department of Foreign Affairs.

The project in Hoi An will enhance the protection capacity of the entire coastline and restore beaches in a sustainable manner through two main solutions. It combines the structural protection (submerged breakwater and groynes) for the area spreading from the river mouth to the Victoria resort with 5,000m long, and soft and nature-based solutions, especially sacrificed nourishment for the extension area to the Northwest (An Bang beach area). These solutions aim to restore the sediment balance, maintain the local coastline and reduce risk of erosion after the construction is completed.

Overview of the launching workshop

Mr. Ho Quang Buu - Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Quang Nam province emphasized: “This project marks a significant step towards securing the future of Hoi An's coastline through comprehensive solutions in respect to principles of integrated coastal zone management at regional level. The project contributes effectively to mitigate coastal erosion, foster safe and secure human life and business activities, in particular in the tourism sector, create job opportunities and strengthen the resilience of the local population to climate change. Through collaborative efforts with donors and partners, especially AFD and EU, together with strong commitments of local authorities toward sustainable development, Quang Nam province will continuously work to leverage our collective resources to create more inclusive equitable business opportunities for our communities.”

Mr. Ho Quang Buu - Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Quang Nam province delivered an opening remark

Mr. Olivier Brochet - French Ambassador to Vietnam, shared: “The project concretely illustrates the technical and financial support that France is putting in place through AFD, in #TeamEurope format, to support the provinces in their development policy aimed at strengthening the resilience of their territory in the face of climate change, declining one of the cooperation priorities between France and Vietnam, on global issues. With 3,260 km of coastline, Vietnam’s coastal areas are particularly vulnerable to extreme events that will increase in the coming decades. It is therefore necessary to put in place long-term solutions and rethink the development of coastal tourist areas. This project in Hoi An, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is an opportunity to develop an integrated management pilot involving the province, the city and tourism stakeholders.”

Mr. Olivier Brochet - French Ambassador to Vietnam delivered an opening speech

Sharing on how the project in Hoi An in particular, and WARM Facility in overall, contribute to the #GlobalGateway strategy, Mr. Jesús Laviña, Deputy Head of Cooperation, Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam, said: “The #GlobalGateway strategy supports the financing for high quality and sustainable infrastructure that comply with the environmental and social criteria in line with the values and norms of the EU. Through the WARM Facility, the EU and its member states, under the #TeamEurope approach, are committed to helping Vietnam prepare and respond to natural disasters, restore the biology by nature-based solutions and improve the communities' resilience to climate change, contributing then to achieve its climate commitments.”

Mr. Jesús Laviña, Deputy Head of Cooperation, Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam delivered a speech at the launching workshop

On the sidelines of the ceremony, a multi-stakeholder technical meeting was organized to develop an implementation timeline with both institutional and financial arrangements to ensure the quality of project outcomes. The event closed with high consensus, leaving participants hopeful about the project’s potential impact and looking forward to the project serving as a model for coastal protection in the Central zone of Vietnam.