Opening of the Mekong River Commission Summit

On the morning of April 5, the 2nd Mekong River Commission Summit opened in Ho Chi Minh City with the participation of high-level delegations from 4 member countries of the Commission: Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and 2 Dialogue Partners: China and Myanmar, along with representatives of 18 Development Partners and Observers.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of Thailand, Minister of Water Resources of China, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar led the delegations attending the Conference.

Panorama of the 2nd Mekong River Commission Summit.

Originating east of the Tibetan Plateau to the Mekong Delta, the Mekong is the tenth largest river in the world with a total basin area of ​​up to 795,000 km2. This is home to unique, rich and abundant natural resources, especially inland fisheries. The Lower Mekong Basin is the world's largest freshwater fishery with about 40 million people involved in this sector.

The Mekong River is also one of the most dynamic regions in the world for hydropower development and the Lower Mekong economy is growing rapidly… However, the 60 million people living in the Lower Mekong are experiencing rapid population growth, creating increasing pressure on natural resources for agriculture, urbanization, industrialization, electricity and food production.

Many people still live in poverty, with little access to clean water and sanitation, lack employment opportunities and often do not have enough food or electricity…

The Mekong River Basin has become one of the five major river basins in the world with the most reduced flow. The average annual flow of the Mekong River at Chiang Sen station, the gateway to the lower Mekong, has decreased by 10% over the past 30 years.

In Laos, the Mekong River section that flows through the capital Vientiane has been so dry for the past ten years that people can wade across it during the dry season. In Thailand, the normally gentle Chao Phraya River experienced massive flooding, causing a national flood disaster for months in 2011. In Vietnam's Mekong Delta, saltwater has reached Tan Chau, Chau Doc - An Giang province bordering Cambodia, something that has never happened before.

These impacts become more serious and urgent in the context that riparian countries continue to suffer many negative impacts of climate change. According to calculations for climate change scenarios, when the worst scenario occurs, within the next 100 years, sea levels in Vietnam will rise by 1 meter, causing the loss of 40% of the Mekong Delta area, directly affecting about 10% of Vietnam's population.

Faced with many development opportunities intertwined with many difficulties and challenges, the 2nd Mekong River Commission Summit focused on the theme “Water, Energy and Food Security in the Context of Climate Change in the Mekong River Basin”. The conference focused on assessing the implementation of the 2010 Hua Hin Declaration, discussing the opportunities and challenges of the Mekong River Basin and the role of the Mekong River Commission in the new period, as well as strengthening regional cooperation to promote the sustainable use and development of the Mekong River in the context of climate change and increasing demand for resources for development.

Speaking at the opening of the Conference, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung emphasized the importance of this Conference for the Commission member countries and the Mekong cooperation process, contributing to the international community's efforts to enhance water, energy and food security, especially in response to World Water Day 2014 with the theme Water and Energy.

This event is even more meaningful as members are preparing to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Mekong Cooperation Agreement and the establishment of the Mekong River Commission in 1995. After nearly 20 years of establishment and development on the basis of the 1995 Mekong Agreement, the Prime Minister affirmed that the Mekong River Commission has continuously developed and achieved important results, including the establishment of basic principles and strategic vision on the fair and reasonable use of water resources in the Mekong River basin.

The Prime Minister welcomed the positive results in the implementation of the Hua Hin Declaration 2010, the Commission's Strategic Plan 2011-2015, and the Basin Development Strategy based on Integrated Water Resources Management. Thanks to the efforts of the members, 78 out of 130 activities of the Regional Action Plan have been implemented to date, of which more than 30% have been completed.

In addition to the efforts of each country, the Prime Minister said that countries need to continue to strengthen regional cooperation, especially between riparian countries, both upstream and downstream, through multilateral and sub-regional mechanisms such as the Mekong River Commission.

In order to promote the role of the Commission for the common benefit of the whole region, the Prime Minister proposed to continue to fully and effectively implement the 1995 Mekong Agreement as well as the procedures and regulations of the Mekong River Commission on the equitable and reasonable use of water resources, including the Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation and Agreement (PNPCA) to support appropriate decision-making for water resources development projects in the Mekong River Basin; update and promote the implementation of the Basin Development Strategy based on the Principles of Integrated Water Resources Management through the implementation of national and regional action plans.

In the process of developing the Commission's Strategic Plan for the period 2016 - 2020, the Prime Minister said that it is necessary to consider applying a new approach to the water - energy - food nexus in the basin development planning with a long-term, multi-sectoral, multi-sectoral vision. The Prime Minister also proposed to promote the Commission's research and forecasting work, focusing on and giving the highest priority to completing the Joint Study on Management and Sustainable Development of the Mekong River, including research on the impacts of mainstream hydropower projects; further strengthening the Commission's monitoring and coordination role in implementing the commitments of member countries on cooperation in managing, using and protecting the common water resources of the Mekong River for the goal of sustainable development of the region.

At the same time, it is necessary to continue to strengthen and improve regional and international legal mechanisms to promote the exploitation, use and sustainable, equitable and reasonable development of water resources; continue to expand cooperation between the Commission and partner countries, encourage participation and consultation between countries within and outside the region for the sustainable development of the basin.

Together with other members of the Commission, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung stated that Vietnam welcomes the cooperation efforts and sharing of information and experience of China and Myanmar – the two Dialogue Partners of the Commission, and highly appreciates the attention and support of development partners and wishes to continue receiving financial and technical support to help implement the Commission's priority cooperation areas in the coming period.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung emphasized that as a country whose formation and development process is closely linked to the rice civilization, the Mekong River is extremely important to the economic and social development of Vietnam as well as food security in the region. The Mekong Delta has an area of ​​over 40,000 km2, is home to nearly 20 million people, and annually contributes up to 27% of GDP with 90% of rice exports and nearly 60% of seafood export turnover of Vietnam.

However, the Mekong Delta is suffering from the impacts of climate change and the development of upstream projects, which have greatly affected the lives of millions of people in the region. The Prime Minister affirmed that the Vietnamese Government attaches great importance to the stability and sustainable development of the Mekong Delta region as well as responding to water security challenges and the impacts of climate change in general.

In parallel with the approval of the National Target Program to Respond to Climate Change, the National Strategy on Water Resources to 2020 and many specific action programs, the Government of Vietnam has also proactively implemented the Study on the Impact of Hydropower Projects on the Mekong River Mainstream. Vietnam welcomes the Governments of Laos and Cambodia who have committed to participate in this study and hopes to continue to receive the attention and support of development partners and donors so that the Study will soon have results by the end of 2015 as planned.

To ensure that the river will forever be a priceless common asset for present and future generations, the Prime Minister believes that through cooperation and dialogue “in the spirit of Mekong cooperation”, members will contribute to effectively resolving challenges related to water, energy and food security, while ensuring the legitimate interests of people in the Mekong River basin in terms of economic development, social security, and environmental protection.

After the speeches of the heads of delegations of the countries attending the Conference, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung presented the Ho Chi Minh City Joint Statement which was reviewed and approved by the leaders of the Governments of the member countries of the Commission, in order to continue to affirm the commitments stated in the Hua Hin Declaration in 2010 and to set out major orientations for the development of the Mekong River Commission in the upcoming important period.

According to VOV