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)