For 25 years, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) has been supporting its Member Countries – Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam – to jointly develop and manage the Lower Mekong River Basin (LMB) by optimizing mutual benefits from development while minimising the potentially harmful effects on the environment and livelihoods. The MRC has won the “International River Prize” for its basin management work.

The MRC is a the only international treaty based organisation in the Mekong with a mandate to promote and coordinate the sustainable use of the water and related resources of this great river. The organization is a regional knowledge hub and a water diplomacy platform.

The MRC works across all water and related sectors, including fisheries sustainability, identification of opportunities for agriculture, freedom of navigation, sustainable hydropower, flood and drought management, preservation and conservation of important ecosystems.

The core functions of the MRC include river basin monitoring (water level, flows, quality, sediment, ecological health, fisheries, social impact), forecasting (flood and drought), data and information management, analysis and assessment, basin planning, implementation of the MRC Procedures, and dialogue and facilitation.

China and Myanmar, the upstream countries of the Mekong River Basin, are Dialogue Partners of the MRC, and cooperate in annual dialogue meeting, data and information sharing, joint studies, and technical exchanges. The Commission engages a wide range of partners and stakeholders in its strategies, plans and work. The MRC is funded by the Member Countries and Development Partners.