MRC wants increased cooperation with China/Myanmar

Representatives from MRC member countries discussed increased levels of cooperation in managing Mekong River Basins with Chinese and Myanmar officials.

The representatives came from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam. 

The meeting discussed expansion of cooperation in data and information sharing; further cooperation in assessing the opportunities and impacts of proposed upstream and downstream hydropower schemes; increased initiatives for joint environmental management; and enhanced navigation between the MRC Member Countries and the two upstream countries says the inter-governmental Mekong river basin organisation.

China and Myanmar have a long-standing agreement on cooperation with the MRC and have been Dialogue Partners with the organisation since 1996 with China providing upstream hydro-meteorological data during the wet season since 2002 that the MRC says plays an important role in its flood forecasting.

The MRC says that China in particular has intensified its cooperation with downstream Lancang/Mekong countries. In June a delegation of MRC Member Countries and its Secretariat officials visited the recently built Xiaowan and Jing Hong dams on the Lancang River in Yunnan and met officials in Beijing where the MRC says that China provided information on the planning and design of its hydropower projects and confirmed that the natural minimum flow downstream will not be reduced and that adequate standards of water quality will be maintained.

The visit followed on from two visits made to Yunnan by MRC modeling and hydropower experts who, together with Chinese agencies, providing inputs to the on-going Strategic Environmental Assessment of proposed mainstream dams in the mainstream of the Lower Mekong Basin.

The cooperation with Myanmar, the MRC says, has been furthered by recent mission of the MRC Member Countries and the MRC to Yangon and Naypyidaw to follow up on areas of cooperation as committed at the MRC Summit in April.

“China is increasingly recognising the mutual benefits of adopting a more open approach to the trans-boundary management of water resources in the basin and today’s meeting, as well as the joint efforts that have continued throughout the year, are examples of an increasingly strong cooperation that will lead to a better understanding and awareness of both the risks and opportunities associated with upstream developments on downstream countries,” said Jeremy Bird, CEO of the MRC Secretariat.