The Phnom Penh Post –
The 7th Mekong River Commission (MRC) Regional Stakeholder Forum was held in Thailand capital Bangkok over Monday and Tuesday, with participants discussing urgent issues facing the Mekong region, the Secretariat of the MRC has said.
Attending the two-day event were 180 representatives from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, China and Myanmar, research institutions, the private sector, development partners and civil society organisations.
“Much more needs to be done to provide a comprehensive response to climate change, reduce flood and drought risks, protect environmental assets and increase basin-wide benefits. Achieving these goals is essential and urgent as populations and economies grow and climate change advances.
“This is why the Mekong River Commission has been placing a much greater focus, more than ever before, on trans-boundary cooperation and joint projects among and between member countries. We are committed to supporting our member countries and our people in turning potential conflict into cooperation using every means possible,” MRC CEO Dr An Pich Hatda of Cambodia said.
Raised at the forum were the results and lessons learned in working together on cross-border issues, as well as opportunities provided by the World Bank funded MRC Mekong Integrated Water Resources Management (M-IWRM) Project and the impact it has made.
Through the project, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam have been in collaboration on five initiatives since 2014 to enhance trans-boundary cooperation and improve integrated water resources management practices at the sub-basin level.