The World Bank
yesterday committed more than 63.7 billion kip (US$8 million) to the Mekong
River Commission (MRC) to promote trans-boundary management of regional river
resources.
MRC's Chief Executive Officer Hans Guttman and World Bank Country
Director for Southeast Asia and Mongolia Annette Dixon signed the financial
support agreement at the MRC's headquarters in Vientiane yesterday.
The funding will be used to increase dialogue, cooperation and
understanding on integrated water resources management principles among the
lower Mekong countries that are members of the MRC - Cambodia, Laos, Thailand
and Vietnam.
The five-year support scheme aims to facilitate dialogue and the
implementation of pilot activities that address key trans-boundary water
resource management issues in the lower Mekong basin, which is home to about
600 million people.
It will also help to establish an approach for environmental impact
risk and disaster risk management, an MRC press release said.
The main activities to be conducted under the programme include
improving communication with key stakeholders including the government, the
private sector, civil society and local communities so that they are better
informed on how water and related resource usage in one territory could
potentially cause negative effects that go beyond borders.
The cooperation between the World Bank and the MRC is expected to serve
as an example of how the two can work to implement quality, integrated water
management practices in the lower Mekong basin at the regional, national and
sub-national levels.
“Through this initiative, the MRC will assist member countries in
applying integrated water resources management to their national
decision-making and implementing initiatives on trans-boundary management such
as a joint fisheries management projects on the Mekong and Xekong rivers in
Cambodia and Laos,” Guttman said.
The bank's contribution will bring about greater trans-boundary
cooperation among governments and other stakeholders. Already, communities in
Thailand's Songkhla Lake Basin have begun meeting with their counterparts from
Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake to exchange experiences, he added.
The financial support will go to the MRC's Mekong Integrated Water
Resource Management project, which promotes coordinated development and
management of water and related resources, ensuring that economic and social
welfare is maximised without compromising the sustainability of ecosystems.
Head of the Secretariat of the National Mekong River Committee and MRC
board member Monmany Nhoibuakong was present at the signing ceremony.
The Mekong River, the world's 12th longest and the 7th longest river in
Asia flows through six countries--China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and
Vietnam. But only Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam are currently members of
the Mekong River Commission.
News Desk
Vientiane Times
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