Mekong - U.S. Partnership
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. The program is a two-way exchange program that matches Mekong and U.S. urban water and sewerage entities to their counterparts for a “twinning”/technical city partnership. The overall purpose of the program is three-fold: 1) increase water security in partner cities through sustainable water management solutions; 2) establish long-term relationships between ASEAN, Mekong sub-regional, and U.S. utilities to foster communication and build capacity; 3) increase the exchange of services, goods, science, and technology.
The Mekong-U.S. Partnership is a multinational partnership among Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam, and the United States to create integrated cooperation among the five Lower Mekong countries. Learn more >