Water Diplomacy of the Mekong Basin: Toward a Shared Basin for Prosperity

Project Objective

The main objectives are:

• To analyse the approach to address water problems in China, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.
• To identify challenges in water negotiation and the policy options required to address them.
• To influence decision-makers and mainstream policy to achieve sustainable development in individual countries and the Mekong Basin as a whole.
• To improve the capacity, awareness, and commitment of key stakeholders at all levels, and advance academic knowledge at universities through integrating research findings into teaching/training materials on sustainable development.

Project Description

This proposed project will run for two years from June 2019 to May 2021. The study will be conducted by a research consortium comprised of institutions from Cambodia, China, Laos (PDR), Thailand, Vietnam, which all of these countries are Lancang-Mekong country members. Following are the research questions developed to tackle the objectives of the proposed study:  1). How can the Mekong Basins’ countries, including China, ensure effective water management? 2). What are challenges in negotiation in the Mekong Basin contexts? 3). How can LMC and MRC work together to effectively manage water resources of the Mekong Basin? The project funded by special fund of Lancang Mekong Cooperation through Ministry of Foreign Affair and Cooperation.