Vietnamese Ambassador to Belgium Nguyen Van Thao at the forum on the Mekong River Commission.

Addressing a forum on the Mekong River Commission recently held at the Flemmish Parliament in Brussels, Ambassador Thao suggested that Flanders-Mekong cooperation should focus on cross-border water management and hi-tech agriculture in adaptation to climate change, given the challenges facing the Mekong region such as climate change impacts, floods, droughts, rising sea level, and saltwater intrusion.

He proposed enhancing experience sharing, workforce training and transfer of technology such as smart cold warehouse in service of farm produce export, wind power, water-by-wind, logistics centre and riverway transport infrastructure.

Delegates at the event discussed ways to boost bilateral coordination in water management and seek solutions to common challenges related to climate change, drought, flooding and transportation. A number of Flemish technological solution providers also expressed their interest in business opportunities in the Mekong region.

At the 27th meeting of the MRC Council held in November 2020, Flanders officially became a development partner of the MRC and signed a cooperation agreement worth 1.07 million USD for the 2021-2025 period.