The Mekong River Commission (MRC) in Cambodia's Siem Reap
province is satisfied with China's cooperation in preserving the
eco-system and upgrading people's lives along the river.
Addressing the commission's 12th Dialogue Meeting yesterday, MRC
Joint Committee, 2007-08, Chairman Nguyen Hong Toan said: "We are
pleased to note that our Dialogue Partners are conscious of the
needs of those downstream when considering new developments and
working toward regional integration and prosperity."
Representatives of China and Myanmar, too, attended yesterday's
meeting.
In the past year China has supplied the MRC with 24-hour water
level and 12-hour rainfall data for flood forecasts, while the MRC
Secretariat has provided China with the monthly flow data gathered
from the hydrological stations in Chiang Saen, Thailand, and Stung
Treng, Cambodia, a press release said.
Discussions were held on increasing MRC's technical cooperation
in the fields of navigation and hydro-meteorological data
gathering, too, the release said.
The cooperation between the MRC and its Dialogue Partners such
as China has been strengthened with each passing year, Nguyen Hong
Toan said in the release.
"We feel we have moved to a new phase of understanding for a
practical framework of cooperation particularly over the past two
years. Through such an approach we can all reap the benefits of
sustainable water resources development in the Mekong River Basin,"
he said.
The meeting heard the Dialogue Partners' plans for water
resources development in the Lancang-Mekong River and the
improvements made on a navigation project.
Areas of potential cooperation, including flood management and
mitigation, mathematical models, educational exchanges in
government and private sectors and environmental issues were also
discussed at the meeting.
The Dialogue Meeting is held every year where the MRC discusses
its cooperation framework with its Dialogue Partners and hold talks
on how the four member states of the MRC - Cambodia, Laos, Thailand
and Vietnam - can increase cooperation with the upstream
neighbors.
(China Daily November 15, 2007)
