Through the Mekong River Commission Denmark supports the work for sustainable development, utilisation, management and conservation of the water and related resources of the Mekong River Basin.
The Mekong River Commission (MRC) was established in 1995 by an agreement between the governments of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam with the purpose of jointly managing their shared water resources and developing the economic potential of the river.
The MRC is a unique, treaty-based inter-governmental cooperation whose importance is not only limited to the use of natural resources, but also to the political stability in a traditionally turbulent region.
Denmark is currently one of the largest donor to the Mekong River Commission.
Around 65 million people live in the lower Mekong Basin, which is shared by between Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. A large part of the population earns their income from small scale agriculture and fisheries and is completely dependent on the river to sustain their livelihoods.
The large economic growth in the region has lead to partly uncontrolled and unsustainable use of the Basin’s natural resources. MRC is the only institution to which the member countries have committed to cooperate on the sustainable utilisation of the Mekong River. This makes MRC crucial to the millions of poor people who make their living from the Mekong Basin’s natural resources.
Denmark supports the following MRC programmes:
The Fisheries Programme with DKK 25 million (approximately USD 4.5 Million.) for the period of 2011-2015;
The Environment Programme with DKK 10 million (approximately USD 1.8 Million) in the 2011-2015 period.
The Climate Change and Adaption Initiative with DKK 5 million (approximately USD 0.9 Million) in the period 2011-2015.
The Basin Development Programme (BDP 3) with DKK 25 million (approximately USD 4.5 Million) for the period of 2011-2015.
For further information please download:
Source: Denmark in Vietnam
