The Fifteenth Meeting of the MRC Council
Opening Remarks by
H.E. Mr Somsavat LENGSAVAD
Standing Deputy Prime Minister of the Lao PDR
Vientiane, Lao PDR
7 November 2008
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure and high privilege for me to deliver, on behalf of the Government of Lao PDR, the opening remarks at the Fifteenth Meeting of the MRC Council which is being held in Vientiane, our Capital City. I would like to take this opportunity to warmly welcome all distinguished members of the MRC Council, delegates, the representatives of the Union of Myanmar and Development Partners.
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As we all are aware, water access is crucial to food production, livelihood and welfare of the people. Effective integrated water resources governance is of utmost importance for enabling the full realization of sustainable development and poverty alleviation in the Mekong River Basin. People living in the Mekong region have shared a deep-rooted culture and economic cooperation since time immemorial, and the 1995 Mekong Agreement has further deepened and strengthened this collaboration.
I am please to note that, significant progress has been made since the Fourteenth Meeting of the MRC Council, such as the completion of Water Utilization Program, Development Scenarios of Basin Development Program, the successful meeting of Stakeholders Consultation on MRC Hydropower Program, the implementation of the Information and Knowledge Management Program and the execution of the recommendations on Organizational Review.
Generally speaking, we have exerted a lot of concerted effort to achieve the goals set forth in the MRC Strategic Plans over the past years. We have fulfilled these difficult tasks together in parallel to the smooth execution of all the MRC programs and projects. Undoubtedly, the achievements made in our work plan are largely attributed to the full support of our member countries and constructive engagement of our development partners. Without their strong support and commitment, the development and implementation of our various programs and projects would not have been crowned with success.
I would like therefore to take this opportunity to wholeheartedly
express our high appreciation to all MRC member countries,
development partners and staff of the MRC Secretariat for
their support to the MRC.
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Although the Lao nation currently remains a least developed country, the Lao PDR has huge untapped potentials in different areas, and especially in water resources. As you may be aware, the Mekong River Basin covers more than ninety percent of Lao PDR’s territory, the majority of our population rely on the Mekong River and its tributaries for their livelihood, and our country contributes more than 35 percent of the annual flow of the mighty Mekong River. For that reason, the Lao Government has laid out a policy to promote hydro-power development with a total generation capacity of more than 20,000 megawatts. But so far, we have been able to exploit only 4% of that capacity. In pursuit of hydro-power development, our Government has painstakingly taken environmental protection and sustainable development into consideration. We do believe that the development of this potential sector would be another means to contribute in a meaningful way to reducing poverty of the people and lifting the country from least developed country status by 2020. This undertaking has been clearly reflected in our National Socio-Economic Development Plans, our National Economic Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy, the Water and Water Resources Law, the establishment of Water Resources and Environment Administration and the realization of Integrated Water Resources Management Tools at the national level down to the district level, and others.
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
At present, climate change has seriously affected many countries around the world including countries in our Mekong River Basin. Under these circumstances, mutual and transparent collaboration of development efforts of MRC, GMS, ASEAN and other initiatives in the development of the Mekong River Basin, and in particular the cooperation with China and Myanmar is deemed essential for the search of effective measures to mitigate the impact of natural disasters and bring about greater prosperity to our region.
I hope that the Fifteenth Meeting of the MRC Council will mark another chapter in the development of better mutual understanding and the strengthening of closer partnership between the MRC member countries with their development partners. This would enable all of us to advance in the right direction of sustainable development of the Mekong River Basin. In this regard, I am of the view that the components of effectiveness and efficiency should be incorporated into our development framework by which water initiatives can be pursued and institutional mechanism can be established. Furthermore, greater emphasis on capacity building of the relevant staff in the MRC member countries and the development of efficient water management tools should be also encouraged.
On behalf of the government of the Lao PDR, I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate our firm determination to fully cooperate with the other MRC member countries in realizing the vision on building a prosperous region.
In conclusion, I wish all of you a nice and pleasant stay
in Vientiane, and every success to the Meeting. May I now
announce the official opening of the Fifteenth Meeting of
the MRC Council.
Thank you
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