Vientiane, Lao PDR, 13 March 2020 – The government of Japan today granted JPY 412 million or approximately US$3.9 million to the Mekong River Commission in advancing its flood and drought monitoring and forecasting functions. 

The funding will be spread over four years from 2020 – 2023. It is to transform the MRC’s Regional Flood and Drought Management Center (RFDMC) in Phnom Penh into a center of excellence in providing faster and more accurate flood and drought forecasting and early warning to the lower Mekong countries – Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam. 

Some of the key activities this funding will support are improved public information on flood and drought with the use of advanced technologies, so that local communities and governments are timely informed, and that damages can be reduced in time of danger. It will also help to facilitate an integration of flood and drought management functions to provide a longer lead-time and better accuracy of forecasting. 

“This grant will enable the MRC to further improve its flood and drought forecasting capability with the aim to continue assisting the Member Countries to effectively tackle flood and drought risks for vulnerable communities,” said Dr. An Pich Hatda, MRC Secretariat Chief Executive Officer, at a signing ceremony held at the Headquarters of the MRC Secretariat in Vientiane. 

 

The government of Japan is one of the longstanding development partners of the MRC. Since 2001, Japan has granted ov​er US$18 million to support several projects, including those on flood and drought management, irrigation, climate change and environmental management. 

In 2004, the Japanese funding helped the MRC to construct the Regional Flood Management and Mitigation Center, the predecessor of today RFDMC. It equipped the Center with necessary facilities and technologies of the time to provide daily flood forecasting and river monitoring to the region. 

With the current financial support, Japan believes it will be used to further strengthen MRC’s efforts in flood and drought countermeasures in the lower Mekong River basin that is faced with frequent flood and drought. 

“This funding represents the trust and confidence Japan has placed on the MRC in its work to mitigate natural disaster and improve management of water resources in the Mekong River basin,” said Mr. Keizo Takewaka, Ambassador of Japan to Lao PDR, at the signing ceremony on March 13.

Read the news in Khmer or Lao.

 

Note to editors:

The Mekong River Commission is an intergovernmental organization for regional dialogue and cooperation in the lower Mekong river basin, established in 1995 based on the Mekong Agreement between Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam. The organization serves as a regional platform for water diplomacy as well as a knowledge hub of water resources management for the sustainable development of the region.

 

-END-

 

###