The three-year project will be implemented in all three regions of the country - Ha Noi and Ninh Binh in the north, Da Nang in the central region and Can Tho in the south.

"The project will facilitate the transformation of current industrial parks into eco-industrial parks by promoting sustainable industrial production practices", said the UNIDO Representative Patrick Gilabert.

At least 45 enterprises in four selected industrial parks in Ninh Binh, Da Nang and Can Tho will join training courses that help them implement new technologies to save energy, reduce emissions and dispose waste.

The project is expected to cut greenhouse gas emissions by about 182,000 tonnes and reduce sewage disposal by 6 million cubic metres per year while guaranteeing that the treated waste water will meet international standards.

"Viet Nam is becoming a popular destination for global enterprises and the number of industrial parks is increasing rapidly. However, it has posed major environmental challenges to the country," Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen The Phuong said at the project’s opening ceremony.

According to official reports, only about 80 per cent of industrial parks in the country are equipped with national standard wastewater treatment systems, which falls fall short of the 100 per cent target set in the Government’s five-year (2011-2015) socio-economic development plan.