Mekong - U.S. Partnership
Mekong Research Symposium Shows Value of Local Partnerships
Civil society partners and local communities brought new dimensions to this year’s Mekong Research Symposium (MRS), which took place in Chiang Rai, Thailand, from 14 – 16 March. They spoke about the value of citizen engagement in deciding what data are useful and who needs the data, why local communities should be involved in collecting…
Strengthening Flood and Drought Forecasting
4,000 training hours, 111 trainees, and 19 government agencies in Lower Mekong countries. Those, in brief, were the numbers highlighted at the wrap-up event for a US-Republic of Korea (ROK) capacity-building project on 4 October 2022. The project, ‘Improved Hydrological and Hydraulic Decision Support for the Mekong Basin,’ took place over a 13-month period from…
U.S. PRESS STATEMENT ON THE FRIENDS OF THE MEKONG SENIOR OFFICIALS’ MEETING: “Enhancing Cooperation: Coordinating with Friends and Allies”
U.S. Press Statement on the Friends of the Mekong Senior Officials’ Meeting: “Enhancing Cooperation: Coordinating with Friends and Allies” MEDIA NOTE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON AUGUST 2, 2022 Begin Text. The Senior Officials of the Friends of the Mekong met in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on August 2, 2022. The United States chaired the meeting and welcomed…
Connecting South and Southeast Asia through Improved East-West Linkages
This report, completed by the U.S. Department of Transportation and funded by the U.S. Department of State working together under the Mekong-U.S. Partnership, presents the preliminary findings of an initiative to promote and expand intra-regional and east-west connectivity between the Mekong countries and South Asia. It provides a framework for engaging with regional stakeholders to…
Reporting Tour Showcases Mekong Projects
Pact's Mekong Programs staff at the Mekong Community Institute Local communities that depend on the Mekong River for fishing, farming and tourism were front and center of a reporting tour of Thailand’s resource-rich northeast, from 24-25 March. Staff from Pact’s Mekong Programs accompanied Thai journalists and US embassy officials, including some from USAID, on a…
Using Big Data for Decision Making
Advances in data processing and storage technology have made data about rainfall, river flow, forest cover, salinity levels and other environmental parameters freely available to anyone with Internet access and a computer— but making sense of that data remains a challenge. Imagine every government officer needing to scroll through thousands and millions of statistics every…
USACE Visit Boosts Mekong-U.S. Cooperation
The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) visited several government agencies responsible for water resource management in Thailand, during a visit in December 2021 to explore possible partnership opportunities. The USACE team, accompanied by staff of the Sustainable Infrastructure Partnership (SIP), visited the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) on 15 December 2021 for discussions about areas…
Keynote Address for the Mekong-U.S. Partnership Track 1.5 Dialogue on Infrastructure and Energy
EAP Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink’s Keynote Address for the Mekong-U.S. Partnership Track 1.5 Dialogue on Infrastructure and Energy Good morning and good evening, everyone. It is an honor to speak to so many distinguished guests, YSEALI participants, innovators, leaders, and policy makers from across the region. It is a region I am passionate about, having recently…
Investigating Sustainable Energy Development Opportunities
Did you know: Thailand used 60 TW of power just to run air conditioning in 2020—but stricter energy efficiency standards could reduce this consumption by 20 to 30 percent? Cambodia's hydropower production was curtailed by the Mekong drought in 2019-2020? Vietnam was a late starter in renewable energy, but feed-in tariffs helped install 9GW of…
Secretary Blinken’s Participation in the Friends of the Mekong Ministers’ Meeting
Secretary Blinken’s Participation in the Friends of the Mekong Ministers’ Meeting - United States Department of State On August 5, Secretary Blinken chaired the tenth anniversary meeting of the Friends of the Mekong ministerial. The Secretary congratulated the group on its sustained support to the Mekong subregion and its commitment to transparency, good governance, and…
