Vietnam attends the 19th WMO General Assembly

Prof. Dr. Tran Hong Thai - Director General of the General Department of Hydrometeorology, Permanent Representative of Vietnam at WMO, Vice President of the Asian Meteorological Association Region II, Head of the Vietnamese Delegation; Dr. Dang Thanh Mai, Deputy Director General of the General Department of Hydrometeorology, Hydrological Advisor of Vietnam at WMO and other members attended the 19th WMO General Assembly (Cg-19).

The World Meteorological Congress is the highest authority of WMO, first held in 1951 and held every four years, to decide on general policies and adopt WMO's strategic plan, and elect key WMO officials.

WMO President (2nd from right to left), WMO Secretary-General (3rd from right to left), WMO Deputy Secretary-General (1st from right to left), WMO Assistant Secretary-General for Cg-19 (first from left) chairing the Session

The Cg-19 session focused on the following specific contents: Discussing the WMO Strategic and Financial Plan for the period 2024-2027; assessing the restructuring of the WMO organization; discussing general, legal, policy, regulatory, financial and administrative issues; conducting elections for key WMO positions (such as the President, Vice-Presidents, WMO Secretary-General, Executive Council); assessing the resolutions being implemented by WMO; discussing the organization of the 20th General Assembly.

From May 25 to May 31, 2023, the Vietnamese delegation participated in the plenary session of Cg-19 to discuss and exchange on: the annual work plan, financial allocation of WMO for the 2024-2027 term, early warning initiatives for all; policies, resolutions, standards and regulations related to technical issues of the Earth Observation System Programs, the Global Basic Observation Network, and Improvement of technical observation activities.

*Prof. Dr. Tran Hong Thai, Head of the Vietnamese delegation, met and discussed on the sidelines with Prof. Petteri Taalas, Secretary General of WMO at Cg-19*

*Prof. Dr. Tran Hong Thai, Head of the Vietnamese delegation, met and discussed on the sidelines with Mr. Wenj Zhang, Assistant Secretary General of WMO.*

Also within this framework, the Vietnamese delegation attended the Science and Technology Day event, focusing on discussing and agreeing on the Implementation Plan of the Global Weather Research Program, the Global Weather Monitoring Scientific Research Program, Reviewing the Terms of Reference of the Research Board, and discussing the Strategy to enhance training capacity in WMO.

In addition, the Vietnamese delegation participated in the meeting of the WMO Hydrological Council, the election of the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Hydrological Council; discussed the main activities of the Hydrological Council: reporting on the research activities of the Hydrological Council 2020-2022, discussing the Implementation Plan of the World Weather Research Program for the period 2024-2027, the WMO Vision and Strategy on Hydrology; Report on the activities of the Weather, Climate and Environmental Services Division, the Observation Division, Infrastructure and Information Systems.

The Vietnamese delegation also participated in discussions on the Outcomes and Activities from the 2023 UN Water Conference and WMO's Contribution to the Water and Climate Alliance; Ongoing and Planned Hydrological Projects, the Global Hydrological Measurement Support Facility, the Role of Water Resources Management in the Water-Energy-Food Ecosystem Nexus, Empowering Women Hydrologists, the Joint Programme on Flood Management, the Integrated Drought Management Programme, etc.

*Prof. Dr. Tran Hong Thai, Head of the Vietnamese delegation, met and exchanged on the sidelines with Ms. Outhone Phetluangsy, Head of the Lao delegation at Cg-19.*

The Vietnamese delegation participated in meetings and sideline meetings with WMO leaders and heads of WMO member delegations, participated in programs, projects and cooperated with the following countries: Finland, Korea, Laos, Norway, France, Saudi Arabia, Algeria in implementing WMO's strategic goals for the 2024-2027 term and hydrometeorological cooperation with other countries.

Through active participation in Cg-19 and proactive activities, the Vietnamese delegation has affirmed Vietnam's role and position in participating in hydrometeorological activities in the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) community. At the same time, this is also a good opportunity for Vietnam to promote development cooperation in the field of hydrometeorology with other countries.

*Prof. Dr. Tran Hong Thai, Head of the Vietnamese delegation, met and discussed on the sidelines with Mr. Zhenlin CHEN, Head of the Chinese delegation at Cg-19*

At this session, the World Meteorological Assembly elected the President of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Secretary-General of WMO. Mr. Abdulla Ahmed Al Mandous, Director of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Meteorological and Seismological Service, President of the Asian Meteorological Association (RAII) was elected as the WMO President for the period 2024-2027. Ms. Celeste Saulo, Director of the Argentine Meteorological Service, Permanent Representative of Argentina to WMO, was elected as the WMO Secretary-General for the period 2024-2027.

Thus, according to WMO regulations, the current Vice President of RA-II, Prof. Dr. Tran Hong Thai, Director General of the General Department of Hydrometeorology, will assume the position of Acting President of RA-II and will also be a member of the WMO Executive Council. Prof. Dr. Tran Hong Thai will directly run RA-II until RA-II organizes an election for the position of President of RA-II for the 2024-2027 term.

RAII countries also congratulated the new RAII Acting President, Prof. Dr. Tran Hong Thai, at the RAII consultation meeting before the election of the WMO Executive Council.

The Asia Meteorological Association Region II (RA-II) is an organization under WMO including Vietnam and 34 other WMO members in the Asian region. Vietnam has participated in RAII since it became a WMO member. In 2019, a representative of Vietnam was elected as Vice President of RAII, and in 2021, he was re-elected as Vice President of RAII.

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