Introducing the Minister, Mr. William Ehlers, said the Global Environment Facility (GEF) was established in 1991 on the occasion of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit) to address global warming issues. With 183 member states, the GEF is an independent financial institution, providing the world's largest source of public funding for environmental projects. GEF provides financial support in areas, such as biodiversity, climate change, chemicals and wastes, international waters, land degradation, sustainable forest management, integrated approaches, other support activities.

From founding, the GEF has provided $ 14.5 billion in aid and mobilized $ 75.4 billion in funding for nearly 4,000 environmental projects. The GEF project partners are also very diverse and are well respected internationally, such as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the World Bank (WB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

In support of the GEF in Vietnam, the Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment as the GEF focal point for the country. Since its inception, the GEF has supported Vietnam to undertake 107 environmental projects in many sectors and in many localities, making significant contributions to addressing environmental issues in Vietnam in particular and addressing global environmental issues in general.