MRC 2010 work plan approved PDF ພິມ ອີເມລ
ຂຽນໂດຍ Vientiane Times Report   
ວັນສຸກທີ່ 31 ກໍລິກົດ 2009 ເວລາ 08: 47
Mekong member countries have endorsed the draft Mekong River Commission Work Programme for 2010.

The agreement was reached during the Thirtieth Joint Committee Meeting and the Fourteenth Dialogue Meeting of the MRC in Vientiane that ended yesterday.


The meetings brought together MRC member countries – Laos , Vietnam , Thailand and Cambodia - to meet with dialogue partners – Myanmar and China.

According to the meeting minutes, the secretariat proposed a new programme structure where the Tourism Programme and Drought Management Programme would be dropped, but pertinent activities would be implemented through other existing programmes.

Member countries were invited to provide comments and suggestions on the draft MRC Work Programme 2010 through correspondence by August 25.

The Joint Committee Members agreed to provide comments on the draft programme before the deadline for endorsement at the preparatory meeting of the Joint Committee for the Sixteenth Meeting of the MRC Council.

Regarding the discussion on the outline of a report on the state of the basin, Thailand suggested incorporation of the views of civil society to complement participation in Mekong cooperation.

Based on the lessons learnt from the first edition of the basin report in 2003, Vietnam requested the MRC Secretariat ensure consistency when using different sources of information.

Concerning the preliminary design guidance for Mekong mainstream dams, Laos emphasised the urgency of providing the guidance as developers are now moving forwards in preparing their designs and need to know what MRC will expect from them.

The meeting expected that the finalised and adopted basin development strategy will guide the operations of the MRC and the activities of MRC programmes, amongst others through the MRC strategic plan for 2011-15.

The meeting took note of progress and achievements of the environment programme and climate change and adaptation initiative.

Laos suggested the inclusion of capacity building in the business plan for regional knowledge hub on trans-boundary water resource management, especially in wetlands mapping.

The meeting called for close coordination in developing this knowledge hub initiative and proposals for discharge and sediment monitoring projects in order to allow synergy with similar initiatives conducted at the national level.