AKP Siem Reap, April 05, 2018 –The plenary session of the 3rd Mekong River Commission (MRC) Summit took place in Siem Reap city, Siem Reap province this morning under the theme “Enhancing Joint Efforts and Partnerships towards Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in the Mekong River Basin.”
Prime Ministers of the four MRC member countries – Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen of Cambodia, H.E. Thongloun Sisoulith of Laos, H.E. Prayut Chan-o-cha of Thailand, and H.E. Nguyen Xuan Phuc of Vietnam – presided over the plenary session.
Senior Representatives from China, Myanmar, and other development partners of MRC were also present on the occasion.
In his opening statement, Samdech Techo Hun Sen shared his positive evaluation over the MRC’s cooperation with all stakeholders in different fields.
“I think that the cooperation under the MRC framework is progressing in a potential speed to boost the socio-economic development and improve the sustainable water resource management, especially by maintaining the balance of ecology in the Mekong Basin,” he said.
“We have already adopted the Basin Development Strategy based on the principle of Integrated Water Resource Management 2016-2020 and MRC Strategic Plan 2016-2020 […],” he added.
Samdech Techo Hun Sen also highly appreciated the existing cooperation among the MRC’s member states and with their dialogue partners and development partners for the sustainable development of the Mekong Basin.
MRC is a platform for water diplomacy and regional cooperation established by Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam to share the benefits of common water resources.
Since its establishment in 1995 by the signing of the Mekong Agreement, the MRC has adopted a series of procedures, namely the Procedures for Water Quality, Procedures for Data and Information Exchange and Sharing, Procedures for Water Use Monitoring, Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation and Agreement, and Procedures for Maintenance of Flows on the Mainstream, to provide a systematic and uniform process for the implementation of this accord.
The MRC Secretariat is the operational arm of the organisation with a staff of 65 based in two main offices in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and Vientiane, Lao PDR. National Mekong Committees in each member state coordinate work at the national level.
China and Myanmar, the upstream countries of the Mekong River Basin, are Dialogue Partners of the MRC. The Commission engages a wide range of stakeholders in its strategies, plans and work.
By Khan Sophirom
