LookAtVietnam – All countries along the Mekong River should co-operate in using its water in a sustainable and responsible way for common prosperity in the region.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (first, right) yesterday attends the Mekong River Commission (MRC) summit in Hua Hin, Thailand.

He proposed strengthening the implementation of the Basin Development Strategy based on the principle of integrated water resources management, the development of different scenarios on climate change and the organisation of an international symposium on impacts on the river and the perfection of the legal framework and the formulation of the co-operation mechanism among commission members.

Dung’s proposals also included strengthening the capacity of the commission and a call on donor countries and organisations to give further financial and technical support to make the basin a region of economic prosperity, social equality and sound environment.

During the summit, prime ministers of commission member countries – Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Viet Nam – committed themselves to boosting co-operation in an effort to overcome urgent challenges emerging in the river basin.

They pledged to work together to reduce property damage as well as injury and the loss of human life caused by floods. They also agreed to take sustainable development issues into account when planning and implementing hydro-electric power plants and to ensure sufficient water resources for agriculture.

In a declaration, the four leaders agreed that accelerating the development of water and related resources would make a significant contribution to the socio-economic development of the region, but might also have negative impacts on the basin environment that need to be fully addressed.

They affirmed their continued commitment to co-operate and promote the sustainable development, utilisation, conservation and management of the water and related resources of the Mekong River Basin.

The four leaders agreed that the institutional development of the commission had advanced in the past 15 years from its inception as the United Nations-based Mekong Committee and Interim Mekong Committee to the independent knowledge-based inter-governmental river basin organisation today, April 6.

They emphasised the need to prioritise resources, funding and capacity building for those member countries where poverty was highest and economic need was most urgent.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News