BLOG
April 7th, 2012
Via Xinhua.net, a report that the World Bank is augmenting its support of the trans-boundary management initiatives for the Mekong. As the article notes:
The World Bank has committed more than 63.7 billion kip (about 8 million U.S. dollars) to the Mekong River Commission (MRC) to promote trans-boundary management of regional river resources.
While there are not any current trans-national water resource issues between the Mekong River countries, the agency wished to act to prevent any from cropping up in the near future, an official at MRC Vientiane Office told Xinhua on Thursday.
MRC’s Chief Executive Officer Hans Guttman and World Bank Country Director for Southeast Asia and Mongolia Annette Dixon on Wednesday signed the financial support agreement in Vientiane.
This is the five-year support scheme running from 2012 to 2017 aiming 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 60 million people.
The official also said the funding will be used to increase dialogue, cooperation and understanding on integrate water resources management principles among the lower Mekong countries that are members of the MRC — Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
It will also help to establish a body to coordinate environmental impact risk and disaster risk management.
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.
The Mekong River, the world’s 12th longest and the seventh longest river in Asia, flows through six countries — China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.