Vientiane (VNA)﷽ – The 4th Mekong River Commission (MRC) Summit, themed“'Innovation and Cooperation for a Water Secure and Sustainable Mekong” concluded in Laos on April 5 after issuing the Vientiane Declaration which called for enhanced cooperation for sustainable Mekong River Basin.

The Vientiane Declaration noted the priority actions and commitmentsfrom prior MRC Summits and their ongoing relevance to MRC member countries.It recognised the importance of the Mekong River Basin’s contributions, astrong and financially sustainable treaty-based River Basin Organisation withinthe evolving institutional environment in the Mekong River Basin for managingwater and related resources. The Declaration reaffirmed the highestpolitical commitment of leaders of the MRC countries to the effectiveimplementation of the 1995 Mekong Agreement, and the role of the MRC as theprimary regional water cooperation and diplomacy platform as well as knowledgehub in enhancing the implementation of basin-wide strategies, procedures,guidelines, and data and information sharing that drives peaceful and mutuallybeneficial cooperation to achieve our shared vision for an economicallyprosperous, socially just, environmentally sound and climate resilient MekongRiver Basin. It acknowledged that while thedevelopment and utilisation of the Mekong’s waters contributes considerably toeconomic growth, it can also have adverse impacts, including transboundaryimpacts that need to be jointly addressed, on the basin’s environment andvulnerable communities especially when exacerbated by climate change, such assevere floods and droughts, erosion and sedimentation, the impacts of rapidfluctuations in river levels and flows in parts of the basin, and thedeterioration of environmental assets and fisheries including due to loss ofconnectivity. It reiterated that to address the basin’schallenges, which have become much more complex, both development andmanagement options are needed to ensure sustainability of the environmentalresource base, to identify alternative investment solutions and adequately considerthe linkages between different sectors, to move beyond water resources planningto encompass operational management, including through opportunities fortransboundary coordination, especially in terms of timely and regular sharingof operational data from dams and other water infrastructure, and to identifyjoint investment projects that contribute to water, food and energy security. The document called on the MRC, allpartners and stakeholders to find innovative solutions to cope with thesechallenges, and to seize the opportunities and intensify cooperation for awater secure and sustainable Mekong River Basin, while abiding by theprinciples of openness, transparency, inclusiveness, mutual benefits, equality,consultation, coordination, cooperation, and respect for sovereignty. It reiterated commitment to joint effortsto further strengthen the role of the MRC in helping to ensure a water, foodand energy secure and economically, socially and environmentally sustainableMekong River Basin. It also welcomed the strategic shift to proactiveregional planning and coordinated operational management, and called on allbasin countries, partners and stakeholders to continue to work with the MRC touphold the 1995 Mekong Agreement and its Procedures, and to support theimplementation of the Basin Development Strategy 2021-2030 in accordance withthis Declaration and the One Mekong One Spirit. The Declaration also stated that the 5th MRC Summit will be held in 2026 inthe Kingdom of Thailand./.