19 February 2008
Australia provides over US$650,000 to support the Mekong River Commission
The Australian Government is providing over US$650,000 through the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) to the Mekong River Commission (MRC) to support Mekong River basin planning and to improve the quality of MRC’s technical outputs.
Australian support will be used to implement (in partnership with Denmark and Sweden) the MRC Basin Development Plan (BDP) and also to fund the position of Senior Technical Coordinator within the MRC Secretariat.
“Sustainable use and management of the Mekong River is critical to sub regional cooperation and development and the MRC,” said Dr Michele Forster, Australian Ambassador to Lao PDR. “The MRC has a central role to play in these issues.”
Australian support for BDP will be used to assess the potential for further development of the water resources of the Mekong Basin. Australian assistance will also help develop the Mekong Basin Integrated Water Resources Management Strategy. The purpose of the Strategy is to guide water resources planning at the basin, sub-basin and national levels.
Australia has been an active supporter of development planning and environmental protection in the Mekong Basin. Over the last decade Australia provided more than US$8 million to the MRC, with an emphasis on building the Commission’s capacity to gather and analyse hydrological data.
Australia is also working actively with the MRC Secretariat to develop the MRC’s Integrated Capacity Building Program (ICBP). The ICBP will build human and institutional capacity across the four member states of the MRC – Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam - for effective integrated water resource management.
It is planned that the ICBP will be the centrepiece of Australia’s future cooperation with the MRC.
Media contacts: Simon Buckley, Tel: 413600 ext. 144; 020 5505733