Second Mekong Resources Forum opens

The second Mekong Resources Forum on investment cooperation and the sustainable development of the Greater Mekong Sub-Region - was held in the northern province of Vinh Phuc on May 10.

The second Mekong Resources Forum on investment cooperation and the sustainable development of the Greater Mekong Sub-Region (GMS) - was held in the northern province of Vinh Phuc on May 10.

Vu Van Chung, representing the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Department, said Vietnam attaches great importance to sustainable development. The Vietnamese government has asked enterprises investing in GMS nations to obey applicable laws and regulations, maintain a harmony between national economic goals, improve local people’s living conditions, reduce poverty, and honour the precepts of sustainable development.

People and Nature Reconciliation (PanNature) – a non-governmental organization works on environmental policies, resource governance, nature conservation and environmental protection, warns that because of its location on the lower stretches of the Mekong River, Vietnam must grapple with the cumulative impacts of major hydropower, irrigation, flood management, tourism, and aquaculture projects undertaken further upstream.   

Forum delegates briefed each other on the environmental and social repercussions of investment activities including Vietnam’s participation in hydropower development in the Mekong, Sesan, Srepok, and Sekong River basins.

The event was co-organised by PanNature, the Foreign Invested Enterprises' Association (VAFIE), the Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia Association for Economic Co-operation and Development (VILACAED), Forest Trends, and Foreign Investment Magazine.