(KPL) Mr Tim Enderlin, Regional Director for the Mekong Region of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and Dr Pham Tuan Phan, CEO of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Secretariat, signed an agreement for Switzerland’s contribution of US$7.4 million to the implementation of MRC’s new Strategic Plan 2016 – 2020. Representatives of the Lao National Mekong Commission Secretariat and of MRC’s Development Partners were also present at the signing ceremony at MRC’s Office in Vientiane.

Switzerland has supported the MRC since the signing of the 1995 Mekong Agreement.

The Lower Mekong Basin provides water, fish, and soil nutrients for over 60 million people in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

Its fresh-water fisheries are the biggest in the world and provide between 50 and 80% of all animal protein consumed by its people.

There are major developments currently threatening the sustainable use of the basin’s water resources, such as industrial agriculture, logging and mining that are all having an impact on the quantity, quality and pulse of the Mekong’s water flow.

Trans-boundary water governance is one of the major development challenges in the Mekong region.   

The Swiss government believes in the value and potential of the MRC as a platform for regional cooperation and consensus-building. 

It also believes that the MRC’s ongoing strategic and institutional reform processes will strengthen its profile as the regional platform for water diplomacy and result in the MRC becoming a more efficient and effective organization.

KPL