U.S.-ASEAN Smart Cities Partnership WiSE/Water Program (2020-2024)
Water Smart Engagements (WiSE) Program pairs U.S. and ASEAN cities, water districts, and utilities for collective capacity building and innovative technology familiarization. Three such cities are from the Mekong region, including Vientiane, Lao PDR which partnered with Hillsboro, Oregon; Phuket, Thailand with Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam with San Francisco, California.…
Department of Transportation East-West Transport Connectivity Program (2020-2024)
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is partnering with stakeholders, including Mekong country governments and U.S. government interagency partners, to strengthen institutional capacity and legal and regulatory frameworks in alignment with international best practices for regional transport planning and connectivity.
USAID-Australia Mekong Safeguards (2018-2024)
Mekong Safeguards accelerates the sustainable infrastructure transition in the Mekong sub-region by reducing negative environmental and social impacts of large-scale energy and transport projects through the application of environmental, social, and corporate governance standards (ESG) at both local and transboundary levels. The program engages governments, banks, and communities to improve ESG standards using transnational standards…
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…
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…
Joint Press Statement of the Friends of the Mekong “Recovery and Resilience”
Joint Press Statement of the Friends of the Mekong “Recovery and Resilience” - United States Department of State The text of the following statement was released by the Governments of the United States of America and the Governments and Members of the Friends of the Mekong Group on the occasion of the 2021 Friends of…
United States, South Korea, and Mekong River Commission Partnership Launches
Senior officials from the United States, Republic of Korea, and the Mekong River Commission (MRC) launched cooperation on July 20 on water data utilization and capacity building for the Mekong region. The partnership will see specialists and scientists from Korea Water Resources Corporation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and NASA provide at least six training events to professionals from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Viet Nam on various decision-support system topics, including modelling, water data utilization and knowledge transfer.
Mekong-U.S. Partnership Track 1.5 Policy Dialogue #1
The Stimson Center and the International Union of Nature (IUCN) will host the first of six Mekong-US Partnership Track 1.5 Policy Dialogues, with the first four-day event beginning March 19 (Asia)/March 18 (U.S.). The opening plenary session will feature keynote remarks from Ambassador Atul Keshap, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs and a high-level panel. The opening plenary session is open to the public and press. RSVP to attend opening plenary: March 19, 8:30am ICT (9:30pm EDT).
Strengthening Transboundary River Governance Report
The East-West Center, with support from the Mekong-U.S. Partnership, released the report from the Indo-Pacific Conference on Strengthening Governance of Transboundary Rivers on February 25.
“Towards a Resilient and Connected Mekong:” Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Atul Keshap’s Remarks at the 2021 Friends of the Mekong Policy Dialogue
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Keshap provided opening remarks at the 2021 Friends of the Mekong Policy Dialogue on January 12, 2021.
Why The Mekong Region Matters to the United States, ASEAN, and the Indo-Pacific
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Stilwell published an article titled "Why the Mekong Region Matters to the United States, ASEAN, and the Indo-Pacific" in the Cambodia Institute for Cooperation and Peace (CICP) Journal of Greater Mekong Studies.