The municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs had a working session with Life Project 4 Youth (LP4Y), a Philippine organisation, on April 10 to discuss the Mekong green tourism village project.

Head of the project Lisa Bonnion said it is an environmentally friendly tourism model that targets areas with eco-tourism and community-based tourism potential, aiming to appropriately make use of natural landscapes for tourism. This project will create jobs for locals while still protecting the environment.

Can Tho, as the heart of the Mekong Delta, is the first locality in the southwestern region to carry out this model, and the LP4Y hopes success in the city will attract other localities’ attention so as to expand the model to the whole region, she noted.

The project will focus on environmental quality, cultural and social aspects, economic development and management efficiency. In the short term, it will help build Can Tho into a tourism city with environment being its top priority, develop ecotourism, conserve cultural identities and natural landscapes, develop human resources for the industry, and support traditional craft villages.

In terms of infrastructure, clean water supply and wastewater treatment systems will be built for green tourism villages, the transport network expanded, natural landscapes upgraded, and local customs, history and climate taken into account.

This project will also provide free vocational training on tourism services for low-income and disadvantaged youths aged between 17 and 24. Trainees will be provided with jobs in green tourism villages.

Director of the municipal department Tran Thi Xuan Mai said although Can Tho’s tourism is thriving, it is facing great pressure in terms of environmental protection. Therefore, developing the green tourism village model is necessary.

The department will work with relevant agencies to devise a plan to carry out the project soon, she added.