Mekong dams could rob millions of their primary protein source

Monday, August 27th, 2012
By : eco-business.com

Hydropower dams planned for the lower mainstem of the Mekong River could decimate fish populations and with them the primary source of protein for 60 million people. The impact of the dams would extend far beyond the river, as people turn to agriculture to replace lost calories, protein and micronutrients, according to a new study by WWF and the Australian National University.

There are 11 planned dam projects on the Mekong mainstem, and another 77 dams planned in the basin by 2030. The study, “Dams on the Mekong River: Lost fish protein and the implications for land and water resources”, looked at two scenarios: replacement of lost fish protein directly attributable to the proposed 11 mainstem dams, and replacement of the net loss in fish protein due to the impact of all 88 proposed dam developments.

If all 11 planned mainstem dams were built, the fish supply would be cut by 16 per cent, with an estimated financial loss of US$476 million a year, according to the study. If all 88 projects were completed, the fish supply could fall 37.8 per cent.

ASIA: Containing anti-malarial drug resistance in Mekong

BANGKOK, 26 April 2012 (IRIN) - Resistance to an anti-malaria drug, artemisinin, is suspected along the Thailand-Myanmar border and in southern Vietnam, but scientists are hoping that it can be contained. Artemisinin resistance emerged on the Thailand-Cambodia border around eight years ago.

Resistance - the ability of the malaria parasite to survive drugs intended to kill it quickly - to chloroquine, an antimalarial previously widely used, forced treatment to change in the early 1970s and also originated in what is known as the Greater Mekong sub-region, which includes Cambodia, the southern provinces of China, Lao, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam.

Chloroquine resistance spread to India and then to sub-Saharan Africa, which has the world’s highest burden of the disease.

Decades later, faced with another bout of resistance, officials are cautiously optimistic about preventing the spread of resistance to artemisinin.

Japan Pledges $7.4 Billion in Aid to Mekong Region

Japan's Ambassador to Burma Takashi Saito, seated left, and Burma's Ambassador to Japan Khin Maung Ting sign documents on their accord on the sidelines of the Mekong-Japan Summit at the State Guest House in Tokyo, April 21, 2012. (Photo: AP)

Monday, 23 April 2012
VOA News | Washington, DC

Japan has pledged $7.4 billion in development aid to five Southeast Asia nations in an effort to promote cooperation with countries in the Mekong region.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced the pledge at a Japan-Mekong summit in Tokyo on Saturday, after meeting with leaders from Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Vietnam.

He said the stability and development of East Asia is not possible without the stability and development of the Mekong region.

Ffishing on the Mekong river in Phnom Penh

A man pulls a fishing net from the Mekong river in Phnom Penh April 21, 2012. Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Saturday, Tokyo will provide 600 billion yen ($7.35 billion) in official development aid to Mekong region countries in three years from April 2013, to help improve the region's infrastructure and boost the area's economy. REUTERS/Samrang Pring

Japan Pledges $7.4 Billion in Aid to Mekong Region

Japan's Ambassador to Burma Takashi Saito, seated left, and Burma's Ambassador to Japan Khin Maung Ting sign documents on their accord on the sidelines of the Mekong-Japan Summit at the State Guest House in Tokyo, April 21, 2012. (Photo: AP)

April 21, 2012
VOA News

Japan has pledged $7.4 billion in development aid to five Southeast Asia nations in an effort to promote cooperation with countries in the Mekong region.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced the pledge at a Japan-Mekong summit in Tokyo on Saturday, after meeting with leaders from Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Vietnam.

He said the stability and development of East Asia is not possible without the stability and development of the Mekong region.

China has also tried to gain influence in the region by pouring aid and investment into Mekong countries.

China and the Geopolitics of the Mekong River Basin: Part I

22 Mar 2012
By Richard P. Cronin
World Politics Review
Briefing

Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part series on China’s geopolitical interests in the Mekong River Basin. Part I examines the politics and impact of hydroelectric projects on the Mekong River Basin. Part II will examine the security challenges to China’s efforts toward economic integration of the Mekong River Basin.

Two decades after the Paris Peace Accord that ended the proxy war in Cambodia, the Mekong Basin has re-emerged as a region of global significance. The rapid infrastructure-led integration of a region some call “Asia’s last frontier” has created tensions between and among China and its five southern neighbors -- Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. Both expanded regional cooperation as well as increased competition for access to the rich resources of the once war-torn region have created serious environmental degradation while endangering food security and other dimensions of human security, and even regional stability.

China’s seemingly insatiable demand for raw materials and tropical commodities has made it a fast-growing market for several Mekong countries and an increasingly important regional investor. Economic integration has been boosted by a multibillion dollar network of all-weather roads, bridges, dams and power lines largely financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that is linking the countries of the Lower Mekong to each other and to China. To date, the ADB’s Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) cooperative development program has primarily benefited large population centers outside the basin proper in China, Thailand and Vietnam. Unfortunately, the same infrastructure that speeds the flow of people and goods to urban centers also facilitates the environmentally unsustainable exploitation of the forests, minerals, water resources and fisheries that are still the primary source of food and livelihoods to millions of the Mekong’s poorest inhabitants.

No aspect of China’s fast-growing role and influence in the Mekong region is more evident and more problematic than its drive to harness the huge hydroelectric potential of the Upper Mekong through the construction of a massive cascade of eight large- to mega-sized dams on the mainstream of the river in Yunnan Province. The recently completed Xiaowan dam, the fourth in the series, will mainly be used to send electricity to the factories and cities of Guangdong Province, its coastal export manufacturing base some 1,400 kilometers away. China’s Yunnan cascade will have enough operational storage capacity to augment the dry season flow at the border with Myanmar and Laos by 40-70 percent, both to maintain maximum electricity output and facilitate navigation on the river downstream as far as northern Laos for boats of up to 500 tons.

ADB Says ‘Green’ Development Key to Growth in Mekong Region

Monday, February 20th, 2012
Voice of America

A conference on the future of the Mekong region heard Monday that the management of food, water and energy resources will be the most critical developmental challenge in the next decade.

Stephen Groff, vice president of the Asian Development Bank, told the Greater Mekong Subregion conference that the challenge is to increase efficiencies in resource use while safeguarding environmental quality and creating jobs.

During the two-day conference, which opened in Bangkok Monday, policy-makers from Cambodia, China, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Vietnam will meet with development partners, academics and private sector representatives to consider how best to balance economic growth and environmental sustainability.

Species in Mekong region rich and at risk, WWF warns

The self-cloning lizard was found in a Vietnamese resturant. Picture: La Sierra University

Dec 12, 2011
DPA

Hanoi - The six-country Mekong River region is so biologically rich that an average of one new species is discovered there every other day, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said Monday.

A snub-nosed, Elvis-coiffed monkey; a self-cloning, all-female lizard and five carnivorous plants are among the 208 new species discovered by scientists last year, the WWF said.

The conservation group called the region along South-East Asia's longest waterway as 'one of the last frontiers for new species discoveries on our planet' while also warning of its fragility and calling on Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and China to protect their biodiversity.

UNESCO identifies threats to press freedom in Mekong Region

Please find below a press release entitled “UNESCO identifies threats to press freedom in Mekong Region” which we thought might be of interest. This release was issued in relation to the outcome of the 2011 World Press Freedom Day Dialogue and Photo Exhibition on: “21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers,” held at UNESCO Bangkok on 3 May 2011. Also attached is the press release that the Cambodian Center for Human Rights distributed which announced the launch of CCHR’s new official website. The new CCHR website is a prime example of how new media can promote and protect human rights and democracy around the world.

UNESCO identifies threats to press freedom in Mekong Region

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least six reporters who worked primarily online were killed in 2010. And for the first time, more online reporters were jailed than those working in traditional media in 2008.

This information was shared at a 2011 World Press Freedom Day Dialogue and Photo Exhibition on: “21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers,” held at UNESCO Bangkok on 3 May 2011.

World Press Freedom Day is commemorated annually to examine and ensure the fundamental principles of press freedom: to evaluate media independence globally; to defend the media from attacks; and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession.

“It serves as an occasion to inform citizens of violations of press freedom – a grim reminder that in dozens of countries around the world, publications are censored, fined, suspended and closed down, while journalists, editors and publishers are harassed, attacked, detained, and even murdered,” said UNESCO Bangkok Director Mr. Gwang-Jo Kim, during his welcoming speech.

Over 15,000 people trafficked in Mekong, says UN agency

10/27/2010
By Dennis Atienza Maliwanag
Inquirer Global Nation (The Philippines)

BANGKOK, Thailand — At least 15,000 people from Mekong were trafficked in 2009 with 71 percent of cases documented in China, data from the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking showed.

A total of 10,824 trafficked people were rescued in China during a nine-month drive in 2009 to curb human trafficking in the world’s second largest economy, according to the Chinese Ministry of Security.

A study by the International Labour Organisation found that forced prostitution, labor, and even forced begging were the key sectors of employment for trafficking victims in China, said UNIAP.

“Women and children may also be victims of forced marriages or illegal adoption,” it said.

Next to China is Vietnam with 2,935 cases and Cambodia with 901.

Thailand has the lowest number of documented victims of human trafficking at 103 in 2009 but the kingdom, with its robust economy, is a favorite destination country and transit point for human traffickers, agencies said.

“Men, women and children, primarily from Myanmar, are trafficked to Thailand for forced labor in fishing-related industries, factories, agriculture, construction, domestic work, and begging,” UNIAP said.

Women and children, it said, were trafficked from Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, China, Vietnam, Russia and Uzbekistan for the bustling sex industry in Thailand.

Myanmar’s Anti-Trafficking Unit recorded 155 cases of human trafficking in 2009, involving cases of forced marriage, prostitution and forced labor, the UN agency said.

UNIAP said that human trafficking was widespread in Mekong but little was known about specific patterns and trends in this Asian sub-region.

“Human trafficking is a crime involving the cheating of people into sexual servitude or labor for the purpose of their exploitation,” it said. “It affects individuals, families and entire communities in almost all parts of the world.”

In the Asia-Pacific Region, the ILO estimated that around 9.49 million people were into forced labor in 2005.

Korea to Expand Economic Cooperation with Greater Mekong Subregion

Sep. 07, 2010
Arirang News (South Korea)

Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun says Korea intends to actively participate in the development of the Greater Mekong Subregion.

In his welcoming remarks at the opening of the Mekong Development Forum in Seoul on Monday, Yoon said the Korean government and private businesses would offer financial and technical assistance as well as invest in GMS projects.

The two-day forum co-hosted by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Asian Development Bank is set to close on Tuesday after one-on-one meetings between Korean businesses and GMS senior officials to explore areas of cooperation and business opportunities.

Comprised of Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, the GMS cooperates on projects such as transportation infrastructure.

South Korea seeks role in Mekong River region development

Tuesday, 07 Sep 2010
Yonhap (South Korea)

Yonhap quoted Mr Yoon Jeung hyun finance minister of South Korea as saying that the country is aggressively seeking to play a role in the development of the Mekong River region.

The official said at the multinational Mekong Development Forum in Seoul co hosted by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Asia Development Bank, which South Korea wants to increase financial support, expand technological cooperation and investment with countries along the key Southeast Asian river.

He also said that Seoul could play a key part in the development of a harmonized and integrated economic infrastructure for the so called Greater Mekong Subregion made up of Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

Mr Yoon said that while the GMS countries have made considerable strides to promote growth, South Korea can become a firm supporter in the future by sharing its past experiences in building up its economy.

The finance ministry, meanwhile, said that the gathering has allowed South Korea and the ADB to start joint consulting projects to GMS countries and to extend the USD 3.5 billion bilateral cooperative arrangement that can be used by the international organization to finance various development projects.

The forum, in addition, has laid the foundation for closer two way cooperative ties, which could allow local companies to take part in future development works in such areas as nuclear reactor building, business investments and eco friendly green growth strategies.

Besides support given through the ADB, the country committed USD 2.2 billion to development programs through its official development program and pledged to increase the size of support funds three fold by 2015.

South Korea's private sector investment to GMS excluding China totaled USD 9.1 billion in 18,000 projects, making it a key overseas destination for South Korean companies.

Seoul has said that closer cooperation with the GMS countries can help diversify its trading partners and tap into a resources rich region with considerable growth potential. Countries along the Mekong are rich in oil, natural gas, wood and rubber.

S. Korea to co-host 'Mekong Development Forum' next week

SEOUL, Aug 31 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the Asia Development Bank (ADB) will co-host next week an international forum on the development of six countries situated on the Mekong River basin, the finance ministry said Monday.

The "Mekong Development Forum," scheduled for Seoul from Sept. 6-7, will focus on boosting cooperation between the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries and South Korea in such areas as transportation and trade, the environment, energy and telecommunications, it said.

According to the ministry, more than 50 overseas officials, including the ADB's vice president, will participate in the first GMS forum to be held in South Korea. Some 100 South Korean officials, scholars and businessmen are expected to be present as well.

The GMS refers to Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, which started a regional development program in 1992 with assistance from the ADB.

The program is designed to reduce poverty in those countries and help promote sustainable economic growth in the region.

Mekong countries look to cut dependence in air transport from Thailand

May 11, 2010
By Luc Citrinot
eTN

Will Thailand’s status as the natural gateway to the Greater Mekong Sub-Region be soon passé? The question would have raised scepticism or even sarcasm a decade ago. But today, the Kingdom’s lasting political instability might indeed endanger the role it has played to build up the Mekong community. At the Mekong Tourism Forum, officials felt rather uncomfortable to tell their opinion. But by carefully analyzing answers provided by NTOs of each country, the conclusion is simple: everyone tends to recommend alternative gateways to come into the area, despite the attempt by Mrs. Runjuang Tongkrut, director for the policy planning division at the Tourism Authority of Thailand, to reassure the tourism community. “No tourists have been targeted so far by the various political incidents. The protests [have] take[n] place in a small area of Bangkok, and the rest of the Kingdom – including our airports - is safe for travel,” she indicated.

But unfortunately, most visitors would rather avoid a country where instability turns chronic. Such a point of view is comprehensible. Especially as the spectrum of the closure of both Bangkok’s airports in December 2008 continues to haunt both consumers and officials. “We rely a lot on Thailand for incoming overseas travelers. We advise our potential travelers to look at all options such as Malaysia and Singapore,” said Mr. Htay Aung, director, general ministry of hotels and tourism in Myanmar. Laos and Myanmar are indeed the most dependant countries in terms of air access from Thailand. In Cambodia, alternatives are easier as many airlines from ASEAN, and also China and Korea, now operate on a daily basis to both Phnom Penh and Siem Reap international airports.

Vietnam is probably the least dependent in the region on Thailand’s troubles. For Mr. Tran Phong Binh, head of the overseas market division at the Vietnam National Tourism Administration, Vietnam is lucky to have “a strong airline with a comprehensive international network.” Yunnan or Guangxi are also less dependant on Bangkok as a main gateway for air travelers, as good connections exist via Vietnam or China’s major airports.

Thailand’s lack of fortune could even be perceived as the necessary incentive for governments in Indochina to upgrade their airlines or to become more flexible in according traffic rights. Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar have no intercontinental flights for the time: Bangkok’s situation might pressure their respective government to allow their national airline to venture overseas.

The step could help to diminish the risk of relying too much on Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport as a transfer point. In fact, even transiting via Thailand is turning more complicated due to travel warnings issued by 47 countries – including Vietnam! “Travel warning plays a devastating role for us. For example, as a Laos-based company, we lose many groups, as tour operators from foreign countries do not want to take the risk to financially support themselves [or] tourists in the case of a problem occurring. They [would] rather prefer to cancel,” said Vianney Catteau from Green Discovery, an agency based in Vientiane.

The evolution of Thailand tourist arrivals in 2010 will also certainly influence total arrivals to the Greater Mekong sub-region. “We now expect to receive 14 million tourists, roughly the same number than in 2009. We will then rely more on domestic tourism, which could generate this year some 97 million trips,” said Mrs. Tongkrut. Thailand will certainly lose some market share to other countries as a gateway to the GMS. For now - at least in the short term - Thailand will continue to hold its position as a Mekong regional hub. “This is still the best connected airport in the region with the most extensive network to Europe and excellent connections to Australia or the USA,” said Luzi Matzig from Asian Trails. But the competition will turn increasingly ferocious.

Hatoyama to meet leaders from Mekong countries in Tokyo on Nov 6-7

Tuesday 03rd November
Japan Today

TOKYO — The leaders of Japan and five Mekong-region countries will hold their first summit meeting in Tokyo on Friday and Saturday to help develop the Southeast Asian region further and boost ties between Japan and these countries.

The talks, which will involve Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his counterparts from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, will help realize Hatoyama’s “East Asian community” concept in the long term, a Foreign Ministry official said Monday.

Cambodia Hosts Forum On Mekong Regional Disaster Management

PHNOM PENH, Oct 15 (Bernama) -- The senior officials from countries along Mekong River including Cambodia, China, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand on Thursday gathered here to attend the Mekong Regional Forum on legal preparedness, regional arrangement for disaster, and communicable disease emergencies, China's Xinhua news agency reported.

"We have to set up a regional law which has similar tools to work together in fields of disaster management and communicable diseases," Nhim Vanda, senior minister and first deputy president of the National Disaster Management Committee (NDMC) of Cambodia said at the forum.

Cambodia will approve a law of disaster management soon, he said. Cambodia already signed on the Asean law on disaster Management in 2005 to work with international partners for exchange information and help on the natural disasters and other risks for people, he added.

"The legal preparedness will ensure the national laws and policies to facilitate fast mobilisation and respond to disaster respond and communicable disease emergencies," he said, calling to have good coordination and information exchange between different partners -- local, national and international.

Nhim Vanda also said that before departure for his visit to China this morning, "Prime Minister Hun Sen asked me to convey some words to forum that we have to enhance efforts to have a regional law on disaster management for serving mutual benefits and enhance cooperation."

Cambodia and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) will work together to host international conference on disaster management in future.

"Having good laws and systems in place will help us to get the right information to right place at the right time after a disaster," Pum Chantinie, secretary of general of the Cambodian Red Cross said.

At the same time, Stephane Rousseau, regional coordinator of ADB said that all members need to work like football team to succeed in region and rescue the victims from the disasters timely.

This event is supported from Cambodian Red Cross, Asia Development Bank (ADB), and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies and NDMC.

"Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam are among the countries through which the Mekong River flows," creating fertile land in what is known as the "rice bowl" of the region, according to the press release of the meeting.

Unfortunately, this region is also prone to flash flooding and droughts, which occur on an annual basis, running valuable crops as well as lives, it added.

Young Leaders Prepare for Japan Exchange

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
27 February 2009

A delegation of 20 young political leaders will join others from Mekong regional countries Burma, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, in a visit to Japan next week.

The delegation, led by National Assembly lawmaker Ly Narun, will visit March 3 to March 12, in what Yone Zawa, first secretary of the Japanese Embassy, said was a first for young Cambodian parliamentarians.

“The purpose of this visit is to promote the exchange of views and experiences among young political leaders in Japan and Mekong countries for future cooperation,” Zawa said.

Pen Sangha, a lawmaker for the Norodom Ranariddh Party, which has three seats in the Assembly, said the purpose of the visit was to gain experience from Japanese for Cambodia’s younger parliamentarians.

Funcinpec lawmaker Heng Hak Lim said he was “proud” to visit Japan, to learn experiences “to correct my country’s politics.”

The program is based on a plan by Shinzo Abe, Japan’s former prime minister, and will eventually bring 6,000 young political leaders to Japan, from countries as far as Australia, India, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia.