  Overview
Progress
Key Issues
World Bank Program
Overview The Mekong River is very much present in the social, economic and cultural life of the five countries of the Lower Mekong Basin: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The Mekong River, the twelfth longest in the world, shapes the economic prospects of these countries and their mutual relations. It is a critical resource in each country, having unique hydrological characteristics, economic and social importance and environmental value for the 275 million people who live in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS). Back to topProgress
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The Mekong links a geographic area that encompasses the fast-growing economies of both South and East Asia. Exports have also experienced strong performance in the countries in the Greater Mekong Sub-region. Average openness ratios for the region more than doubling in the last decade, and trade as well as foreign direct investment among the GMS countries have grown dramatically in the last 5 years. 
Along with strong growth performance, there has also been significant, but uneven, progress in reducing poverty in the region. Nevertheless, the pace of poverty reduction has slowed and disparities have increased. Social indicators of the GMS countries such as infant mortality, illiteracy and immunization rates also show that while growth has been strong in the GMS economies and there have been strides in poverty reduction, this has not yielded commensurate improvement in social indicators for every country. Back to top Key Issues Significant opportunities exist for further building cooperation and integration in the pursuit of developing economic potential. But there are complex challenges as well, and the institutions and often there is not enough information to enable each country to assess fully the benefits and risks to the trade-offs that stronger regional cooperation may bring.  The relative diversity among the economies of the Mekong countries offer opportunities, with Thailand, China, and Vietnam providing large markets and regional knowledge from which they can continue their own paths of economic development and from which the poorer Mekong countries can learn.Â
The rich natural resources of the region – including water, minerals, forests and aquatic habitats – also provide major opportunities for development, but these resources need to be managed carefully if they are to provide long term benefits to the millions of people who depend on them for their livelihoods. For economic growth and poverty reduction in the region, policies and programs in four key areas will be central to strengthening linkages among countries: Better management of natural resources Better physical linkages to underpin strong growth, cooperation, and connectivity Expanding regional trade A better framework for the flow of and development of human resources
Back to top World Bank Program  The World Bank has been involved in a number of regional cooperative programs, the longest-lasting of which is its relationship with the Mekong Committee/Mekong River Commission. The World Bank has contributed through financing of projects in member countries, through direct assistance to the Mekong River Commission for capacity building and through collaboration in studies of both a technical and strategic nature.Â
Looking ahead, the World Bank expects to continue collaboration - with country, donor and other stakeholders - on Mekong water resource management a main pillar of its regional assistance strategy.  The World Bank has participated in the development of a Mekong Water Resources Assistance Strategy, which articulates a medium-term operational strategy aimed at the Mekong River Basin, and to outline the principles for a longer-term partnership.Â
The study encourages stakeholders to pursue policies that address the economic, environmental and social dimensions of the identified trade-offs that emerge as Mekong water resources are further mobilized for development. Â |
 
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