Lancang-Mekong cooperation 'making progress'

Six countries along the Lancang-Mekong River are in Cambodia for their second meeting on joint efforts to safeguard the long-term future of the river. Senior officials say good progress has been made since the first meeting in March.

China’s representatives said much had been achieved since the first meeting just nine months ago. Many targets had been set, and a number of agreements had already been put in place.

"It is very encouraging to see that thanks to the efforts of all parties the implementation of the leaders’ outcomes is well on course and has started to yield notable progress," said Xiao Qian, Chinese delegate.

All six countries the Mekong passes through – China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam – are represented. 

The Lancang Mekong Cooperation – or LMC – has been set up to manage the region’s water resources, principally the balance between traditional farming and fishing … and a wave of dam building to generate electricity through hydropower.

Cambodia, one of Southeast Asia’s poorest nations, welcomed the new partnership.
"We do not have the wherewithal or the human resource capacity to implement projects but the idea of having this special working group is a great idea," said Sok Sy Phana, Cambodian delegate.

This has been a preliminary meeting – the main event will be talks between the foreign ministers of all six nations, after which a statement of future policy is expected. 

By Martin Lowe 

Source: CCTV.com