Mekong - U.S. Partnership
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…
Training on Renewable Energy Modeling Tool Supports Green Growth Planning in Vietnam
The USAID Low Emissions Asian Development and Vietnam Forest and Deltas programs provided training from January 7 to 9 for 16 provincial government, academic and business partners in Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam on map-based software to model and assess renewable energy potential.Attendees learned the functions and uses of the Geospatial Toolkit, an application developed by…
Training on Energy Modeling Tool Helps Vietnam Province Assess Climate Change Mitigation Options
From December 17 to 19 in Thanh Hoa City, Vietnam, experts from the USAID Low Emissions Asian Development (USAID LEAD) and Vietnam Forests and Deltas programs provided training for 15 representatives from key provincial departments and academic institutions on the Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning System (LEAP) system, a software tool for energy and climate change…
USAID’s Smart Infrastructure for the Mekong Team Review Mekong Delta Study
A team of seven experts from the U.S. Department of Interior's International Technical Assistance Program visited Vietnam on November 21 to 25 as part of USAID’s Smart Infrastructure for the Mekong (USAID SIM) project. At the request of the Vietnam Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the team is conducting an impartial scientific review of…
Mekong Government and Civil Society Support Strong Environmental Impact Assessments
In Bangkok, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-supported Mekong Partnership for the Environment (USAID MPE) project and the Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network organized an event that brought together more than 50 government and civil society representatives from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam to exchange ideas on environmental impact assessment (EIA)…
Improving Payments for Environmental Services for Green Growth in the Lower Mekong
From November 24 to 25, key stakeholders from Lower Mekong countries participated in a regional workshop on payment for environmental services (PES) co-hosted by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Center for International Forestry Research and Vietnamese Academy of Forest Sciences in Hanoi, Vietnam.Fifty-five participants from government, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and academia…
RECOFTC Publishes Q&A Booklet on Equity in Forests and Climate Change Context
RECOFTC, the Center for People and Forests, recently published a new addition to its climate change handbook series, “Equity in Climate Change and REDD+,” with USAID and the Norwegian Agency for Development (NORAD) support through their respective projects, Grassroots Equity and Enhanced Networks in the Mekong and Grassroots REDD+.The projects identified a need for a…
Training Provides Leaders with Tools for Better Management of Protected Natural Resource Areas
From November 17 to 20 in Chiang Mai, Thailand, the USAID Low Emissions Asian Development (USAID LEAD) program provided training for 25 policymakers, national park managers, academics and other practitioners from Cambodia, India, Laos, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam on a methodology for guiding decisions related to management of protected natural resource areas.The workshop on “multi-criteria…
USAID Mekong ARCC, AMDI Engage Community Leadership in Adaptation Planning for Hotspot Province in Vietnam
From October 27 to 28, the USAID Mekong Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change (USAID Mekong ARCC) project gathered key stakeholders in Hanoi, Vietnam, to discuss potential climate change adaptation options for Thuan Hoa commune where a USAID partner, the Asian Management and Development Institute (AMDI), will implement a climate adaptation pilot program over the…
USAID Highlights Emerging Trends in Participatory Forest Monitoring
In Lam Dong Province, Vietnam, forestry experts from across Asia participated in a Regional Knowledge Exchange Event on Participatory Forest Monitoring that examined emerging models of how communities and government can work together to monitor forest resources.The event, hosted by the Lam Dong Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and co-organized by the U.S. Agency…
USAID Project Promotes Youth Job Skills and Education in the Lower Mekong
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a new project to train hundreds of instructors and students to prepare youth for employment in the Lower Mekong countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The USAID Connecting the Mekong Through Education and Training project, to be implemented by the Education Development Center, Inc., focuses on…
