Meeting of the Friends of the Lower Mekong

The Friends of the Lower Mekong, a donor coordination group, came together with the countries of the Lower Mekong to discuss the connection between water resources, energy needs and food security.U.S. State Department Counselor Thomas Shannon and Ambassador David Thorne were representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID),…

Seventh Lower Mekong Initiative Regional Working Group Meeting in Bangkok

Water, energy and food security challenges, as well as women’s empowerment and the promotion of gender equality, are among major issues raised for discussion at the Seventh Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) Regional Working Group Meeting.The meeting took place at the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel in Bangkok on 29 – 30 January 2015, and it was…

Extraordinary Friends of the Lower Mekong: Conference on Mekong Sustainability Summary of Joint Discussion

Extraordinary Friends of the Lower Mekong Conference on Mekong SustainabilitySummary of Joint DiscussionOn February 2-3, 2015, the Friends of the Lower Mekong (FLM) – representatives of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam, the United States, the Asian Development Bank, Australia, Denmark, the European Union, Finland, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Republic of Korea, Sweden, World…

FACT SHEET: Extraordinary Meeting of the Friends of the Lower Mekong

Office of the SpokespersonWashington, DCOn February 2, Counselor Tom Shannon and Senior Advisor to the Secretary Ambassador David Thorne led a U.S. delegation to the Extraordinary Meeting of the Friends of the Lower Mekong in Pakse, Laos. This is the first time the Friends of the Lower Mekong, a donor coordination group, have come together…

USAID Trains Gender Champions in Strategic Planning and Negotiation Skills

More than 30 gender specialists representing government and civil society groups from around the region gathered in Siem Reap, Cambodia from January 26 to 31 to learn strategic planning for safeguards in climate change and REDD+.The workshop was the third in a series of trainings under the USAID Lowering Emissions in Asia’s Forests (USAID LEAF)…

Thailand Hosts Regional Meeting on Lower Mekong Initiative

Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is hosting the 7th Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) Regional Working Group Meeting to discuss cooperation in several areas, aiming at moving toward the ASEAN integration at year-end.Outcomes of the two-day meeting hosted by the Foreign Affairs Ministry will be used to review a draft of the Master Plan of Action…

Mekong Countries Meet to Address Drivers of Deforestation

USAID LEAF and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations gathered representatives from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam in Bangkok from January 20 to 21 to develop national action plans on drivers of deforestation and a decision support tool on forestry and climate change policy.Representatives from participating Mekong countries presented the results…

USAID Partners with Johns Hopkins University to Support Off-grid Solar in Cambodia

Over the past several months, USAID’s Private Financing Advisory Network-Asia (PFAN-Asia) has been collaborating with a team of four graduate school consultants from the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) to research and develop a report, The Business Case For: Off- grid Solar in Cambodia.The purpose of this study is to identify…

Report Estimates Lower Mekong Basin Economies Risk $34 Billion/Year from Climate Change

The U.S. Agency for International Development's Mekong Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change (USAID Mekong ARCC) project has just released a report entitled “Climate Change in the Lower Mekong Basin: An Analysis of Economic Values at Risk.”Authored by Senior Economist John Talberth of World Resources Institute, a USAID Mekong ARCC partner, the report estimates that…

Thailand to Host the 7th Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) Regional Working Group Meeting

The Lower Mekong Initiative Regional Working Group Meeting will take place in Bangkok during 29-30 January 2015 with an emphasis on the cooperation on water, energy, and food issues.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will host the 7th Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) Regional Working Group (RWG) Meeting on 29-30 January 2015 in Bangkok.The topics of discussion…

Assessment of the Enabling Environment for Cross-Boarder Trade of Agricultural Inputs in Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia

This study assesses the agribusiness-enabling environment for cross-border trade in the Lower Mekong region by focusing on specific indicators of four key agricultural inputs: seed, fertilizer, pesticide, and fish fry. The study examines the country-level and regional issues in Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia with respect to (1) administrative (in)efficiency, (2) transaction costs, and (3) strength…

Cambodia Consults Private Sector on Draft Environmental Impact Assessment Law

On December 5 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment (MOE) and the Vishnu Law Group, with support from the USAID-supported Mekong Partnership for the Environment project implemented by Pact, held a consultation forum with the more than 125 representatives from international and national companies and business associations, who provided input on the country’s draft…