2nd Project Steering Committee Meeting held online for “Conservation and development of forest ecosystems biodiversity resources at Cat Tien National Park”

As the project embarks on to its 2^nd year from 2022, the 2^nd Project Steering Committee meeting was held virtually on 17^th December 2021 for project AFoCO/024/2021 for “Conservation and development of forest ecosystems biodiversity resources at Cat Tien National Park” in Viet Nam. The meeting was held to discuss the following agendas:  follow-up of the 1^st PSC meeting, annual progress and financial report of 2021 and project performance analysis based on the Project Implementation Plan (PIP) Matrix, annual work plan and budget for 2022 and the project’s coping measures under the COVID-19 situation.

The meeting was joined by the Project Steering Committee members from Viet Nam and the AFoCO Secretariat. Chaired by Dr. Pham Van Dien, Deputy Director General of VNFOREST, the meeting formally and warmly welcomed all participants to the 2^nd PSC meeting, which began with brief introductions from both sides.

During the meeting, Dr. Pham Huu Khanh, Representative of the Project Management Unit (PMU) for AFoCO/024/2021, briefly presented the recap of the 1^st PSC’s record of discussion. After the brief recap, the meeting proceeded with the follow- up activities, the 2021 annual progress & financial report and project performance analysis based on the PIP matrix and annual work plan and budget for 2022 covering 12 months from January to December. The meeting also reviewed and considered the coping-up measure under the COVID-19 situation which was reflected in the annual work and budget plan for 2022, it mainly highlighted the following aspects:

• Activities to be adjusted or revised in 2022, based on the total work plan and budget, and
• Project-specific coping-up measures under the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr. Pham Hong Luong, former Director of CTNP, Chief of VNFOREST Office, Deputy head of PSC, highly appreciated PMU for their implementing a number of project activities. He mentioned that more efforts are needed to be made to overcome the difficulties and ensure the successful project implementation. The meeting adjourned with hopes that the COVID-19 situation would improve in the future for the Secretariat to visit Viet Nam and the Viet Nam side to visit the Seoul and the Secretariat in time for the 15th World Forestry Congress next year in Seoul, Republic of Korea.

Submitted by Cha Jiyea, Assistant Program Officer