Vientiane (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed Vietnam’scommitment to cooperation in building a prosperous, fair and healthy Mekongriver basin while addressing the fourth Mekong River Commission (MRC) Summit inVientiane, Laos on April 5.

Chinh spoke highly of the indispensable role of the MRC aswell as its efforts to effectively perform the functions and tasks of an internationalriver basin organisation, helping affirm the value of the 1995 MekongAgreement.

He took this occasion to thank the cooperation and supportof dialogue and development partners and other international partners in theregion that always create favourable conditions for Vietnam and other countriesin the region to protect the main and natural flows of the Mekong River.

The Mekong River basin is facing great challenges due to synergisticimpacts of climate change, the pressure of economic development requirementsand the rapid increase in water use, which makes the river’s water resourcesdegraded in both quantity and quality, directly affecting efforts to ensurewater and food security for all countries in the basin, especially more than 60million people in the area.

He took Vietnam, which locates downstream of the MekongRiver, as an example. The flow from the upper Mekong River to the downstream andthe Mekong Delta has severely reduced. The delta often faces severe droughts, andthe saline intrusion tends to appear 1-1.5 months earlier with a greater scaleand intensity than before. In 2020, the amount of sediment in the Mekong Delta decreasedto only one third of that 15 years ago. This directly affects the livelihoodsof more than 20 million residents in the Mekong Delta region.

In face of that situation, PM Chinh suggested the MRC continue to affirm itsstrong commitment to, serious compliance with and effective implementation ofthe 1995 Mekong Agreement, as well as the set of regulations on water use,particularly the fundamental principles of sovereign equality and territorialintegrity, fair and rational use of water resources, reasonable maintenance offlows on the main stream, and prevention and limitation of negative impacts,especially for downstream countries.

The Vietnamese Government leader emphasised that allrelevant policies and actions of the MRC and its member countries need to putpeople at the centre, ensure sustainable livelihoods of them, and protectlegitimate rights and interests those living in the basin.

It is necessary to strengthen cooperation in the preventionand combat of transnational crimes; strive to make the MRC an intelligence hubproviding information, data and knowledge about the basin, and consultingservices to help other sub-regional cooperation mechanisms perform theirfunctions.

Countries need to promote development of green and circulareconomy, support regional plans for research and development of renewables suchas wind and solar energy, and connect and upgrade electricity grids of theregion, thereby contributing to sustainable development, ensuring energysecurity and responding to climate change.

Vietnam always upholds the role of the MRC and commits toworking closely with member countries to successfully implement the commission'sstrategies, plans and action plans, for the purpose of building the prosperous,equitable and healthy Mekong River Basin that is adaptive to climate change,for peace, stability, development and prosperity of the ASEAN Community.

Concluding the summit, the leaders of Vietnam, Laos,Cambodia and Thailand approved the Vientiane Declaration, in which theyaffirmed the highest political commitment, as well as goals and principles ofcooperation for the sustainable development of the Mekong River Basin; andidentified the focus of cooperation of the commission in the coming time./.