To the Friends of the Mekong
& VN 2020 Mekong Group

As part of our Asia Pacific Security Engagement Initiative, we are launching LMI 2020. As the name implies, it is a multiyear vision for how the United States can help each of our partners together as well as individually to build a more prosperous region through each of the LMI pillars. Hillary Clinton

We think the Lower Mekong Initiative 2020 has great potential, but it can only be successful if we have the full participation of all the partners, because we need your ideas and we need your very constructive and candid dialogue with us. Hillary Clinton

This article is written after the last one titled “The Mekong Basin: A Challenging Neighborhood for the U.S.” appeared about four months ago on 04/11/2012. Recently, on July 13, 2012, the American Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced an expanded program of action name "Lower Mekong Initiative 2020" and Myanmar has become the new member and the fifth country to join the LMI 2020. This new development marks a long range commitment of the U.S. to the development of the Lower Mekong. [3]

In this article, the author - who has spent numerous years monitoring the evolution and, sadly enough, also degradation of the Mekong – will attempt to review the progress status of the implementation as well as development of the “Lower Mekong Initiative 2020”. The author will also offer his own proposal, “The Mekong Institute Project”, in response to the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s call for ideas and dialogue.

CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS IN THE U.S. AND MEKONG REGION

- Very early on in the 1940’s, American dam builders had set their eyes on the vast hydropower potentials of the Mekong. In 1957, under the auspices of the United Nations, more precisely of the United States, the Mekong River Committee was established with four member states: Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.

- To facilitate the planning of the development projects for the Mekong, the United Nations divided the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) into two basins separated by the Golden Triangle: the Upper Basin encompassing the Yunnan Province of China and the Lower Basin comprising of the countries downstream the river: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.

- From 1967 to 1971, amidst the ravages of the Vietnam War, the United States and the World Bank jointly financed the construction of the Nam Ngum Dam located on a large tributary of the Mekong. This is the first hydroelectric dam built in Laos.

- The program to develop the Lower Mekong Basin was quite ambitious. It aimed at raising the standard of living of the entire population of the region. However, the Vietnam War spread to all the three countries in Indochina putting an end to the construction of the hydropower dams on the Mekong main current and other exploitation plans as well.

- On July 23, 2009, the American Secretary of State launched the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) advocating the establishment of “The Mekong River Commission and Mississippi River Commission Sister-River Partnership” [4]

- On July 7, 2011, the United States Senate passed S. Resolution 227 “calling for the protection of the Mekong River Basin and increased U.S. support for delaying the construction of mainstream dams along the Mekong River.” [8]

- On July 13, 2012, at the Fifth Lower Mekong Initiative Ministerial Meeting, with the induction of a fifth member Myanmar, the American Secretary of State proposed the “Lower Mekong Initiative 2020” marking the long-range and expanded commitment of the U.S. to the development of the Lower Mekong Basin.

- The American Secretary of State warned the Mekong countries not to follow in the misguided footsteps of the United States of over a century ago when it rushed into the building of hydropower dams and had to face up to the unwanted consequences not long afterwards. She added that her country is willing to finance research on the impacts of the hydropower dams on the Mekong. [2]

FROM THE LOWER MEKONG INITIATIVE 2009

More than three years ago (7/23/2009), on the occasion of the ASEAN conference and responding to the request from the United States, the foreign ministers from five countries met in a sideline meeting in Phuket, South Thailand. The participants included Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton of the U.S. and her four counterparts from the countries in the Lower Mekong Basin: Cambodia, Laos Thailand, and Vietnam. At the close of the meeting, an unprecedented press release was issued covering the topics of common concern especially in the areas of Environment, Public Health, Education, and Infrastructure Development in the region.

The American Secretary of State stated the importance her country holds toward the Lower Mekong Basin and each of the countries in question. On that occasion, she also reiterated the commitment of the United States to work toward the peace and prosperity of the ASEAN region as a whole. The four foreign ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam [at that time Myanmar, a country in the Lower Mekong Basin had not joined the club yet] welcomed the closer cooperation of the United States with their countries in the areas of mutual concern in order to secure a lasting development for the region.

The five ministers discussed various topics such as: how to cope effectively with climate change, fight against infectious diseases, and expand the application of technology in the field of education. Special emphasis was reserved for the development of rural areas as well as infrastructures.

They reviewed the common efforts underway and agreed to open up new venues for cooperation. The ministers particularly applauded the initiative named “The Mekong River Commission and Mississippi River Commission Sister-River Partnership” opening the door for the sharing of technical experience and know-how in areas like: adaptation to climate change, coping with floods and droughts, development and impact evaluation of hydroelectricity, management of water resources, and food safety. [4]

Later on, the American Department of State issued this 2009 fact sheet pertaining to the Lower Mekong Initiative:

1. Environment: US$ 7 million to be earmarked for environmental programs in the Mekong Region. The most noteworthy recommendation was the establishment of “The Mekong River Commission and Mississippi River Commission Sister-River Partnership” to share the common experience working with those two rivers. The U.S. will seek congressional approval for an additional US$ $15 million in 2010.
   
   
2. Health: US$ 138 million to be used in the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, pandemic influenza … and plans to hold a “US-Mekong Conference on Integrated Approaches to Infectious Disease”.
   
   
3. Education: US$ 16 million in this field and 500 Fulbright scholarships reserved for students and scholars each year, expand the Internet network to rural communities, and hold a “US-Mekong Forum” on the Internet.

The Lower Mekong Initiative 2009 represents a crucial gesture signaling the re-engagement of the United States in Southeast Asia at a time when China is exerting worrisome pressure on the region. Unfortunately, the size of the fund the U.S. set aside for this policy is in no way commensurate with its scope and the needs of the countries in the basin. It cannot be adequate to deal with the evergrowing expansionist policy displayed by the Chinese who are apparently holding the upper hands in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) in regard to the United States in many instances.

TO THE “LOWER MEKONG INITIATIVE 2020”

More than three years after the Phuket Conference in Thailand, two different meetings were held on the same day of July 13, 2012: The Lower Mekong Initiative Ministerial Meeting and the Friends of the Lower Mekong in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

[Fig. 1] From left: ASEAN Director General Arthayudh Srisamoot of Thailand, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, Laotian Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith and Myanmar Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin during the 5th LMI Foreign Ministers Meeting in Phnom Penh, July 13, 2012. Photo: Heng Sinith / AP

At this meeting, the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton circulated a new and long range commitment of the U.S. to bolster the Lower Mekong Initiative that was introduced since 2009.

Mrs. Hillary Clinton stated: “As part of our Asia Pacific Security Engagement Initiative, we are launching LMI 2020. As the name implies, it is a multiyear vision for how the United States can help each of our partners together as well as individually to build a more prosperous region through each of the LMI pillars.” It could be said that the Lower Mekong Initiative 2020 reflects an extended, heightened, and long-range strategic view the United States holds toward Southeast Asia.

Considering the huge potentials that could be derived from mutual cooperation to deal with the challenges in the health, infrastructure, environment, and education fields, an Action Oriented Group was set up to improve the assessments of the effects of climate change and exchange the best experience pertaining to the management of large rivers like the Mekong.

Below is a list of several steps to be taken to implement the Lower Mekong Initiative 2020: [1]

• Vietnam will co-chair a strengthened Pillar on Environment and Water which will include a broader focus on sanitation, flood management, urban water supplies, and related issues.
  
  
• Myamar will co-chair a new Agriculture and Food Security Pillar which will foster our collective efforts to sustain food security for people throughout the Mekong region.
  
  
• Laos will co-chair building a Connectivity Pillar which will focus not only on how best to build roads and power lines, but also how to close the so-called digital divide and strengthen ties among our institutions and people.
  
  
• Establish “a group of outside independent experts who could offer fresh thinking on subregional integration, sustainable development, economic competitiveness, and other areas of mutual interest.”

A closer look at the details of the Lower Mekong Initiative 2020 will reveal that (a) the U.S. is supporting a new partnership between the Government of Vietnam and Harvard University to train the region’s next generation of public policy experts and leaders in key areas; (b) to bolster the efforts to fight malaria and climate change, the United States will invest US$ 50 million over the next three years. This is in addition to the bilateral support the U.S. already allocated for the region; (c) the first step in setting up a network to coordinate the implementation to the Lower Mekong Initiative 2020 is to establish a “coordination hub” at the USAID office in Bangkok. The time is ripe to relocate this organization closer to the Mekong to facilitate the cooperation and communication among the member countries.

Along with the Lower Mekong Initiative 2020, the American Secretary of State also raised “critical questions concerning the dams on the main current of the Mekong”. She observed: “In the past, I have urged partner countries to pause on any considerations to build new dams until everyone could fully assess their impact. Some studies have explored the benefits of generating electricity, but questions – serious questions – remain about the effects on fisheries, agriculture, livelihoods, environment, and health.” [1]

The Lower Mekong Initiative 2020 also calls for the U.S. to contribute an additional US$ 1 million to the Mekong River Commission to finance further research for a sustainable development policy of the Mekong including the assessments of potential environmental effects of the dams on the main current. Another US$ 2 million is earmarked for technical assistance to develop fisheries and improve the living conditions in rural areas.

The Lower Mekong Initiative 2020 offers bright promises for the future. Nevertheless, for it to succeed, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton clearly sees the need for all the interested parties to get involved. As a result, she issued this call: “We think the Lower Mekong Initiative 2020 has great potential, but it can only be successful if we have the full participation of all the partners, because we need your ideas and we need your very constructive and candid dialogue with us.” [2]

To respond to the Secretary’s call, in this article, the author will attempt to elaborate on realistic steps that could be taken to work towards the objectives set forth in the Lower Mekong Initiative 2020.

FROM AN EXPERIENCE IN THE PAST

It was in the 1960’s and the Vietnam War was escalating with no end in sight. The author was then attending medical school and served as editor of the school’s publication “Y Khoa Tình Thương” whose office was located on Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm Street. In that capacity, we were in a position to meet with delegations of international students organizations like the World University Service (WUS), and foreign newsmen. I still can recall several names such as: Takashi Oka of the Chistian Science Monitor & New York Times, Jean-Claude Pomonti of Le Monde, and also Phạm Xuân Ẩn of the American weekly Times (only after the war did people find out that he was a strategic spy for Hanoi)… [14]

In general, the foreign press was very interested in learning about the “viewpoint” of Vietnamese youth and students in regard to the War that was raging in the country at enormous costs in human lives and the billion of US dollars or so the United States poured monthly into the conflict to pay for bombs and airplanes. Amidst that scene of complete desolation and devastattion, unexpectedly bloomed a rare flower: the US$ 2.7 million Medical School Building financed evenly by the American Medical Association and Vietnam’s national budget. Designed jointly by a group of American and Vietnamese architects, it was built in 1966 on Hồng Bàng Street and served as the new home for the Faculties of Medicine and Dentistry of Saigon formerly located on 28 Trần Quý Cáp Street. [12]

This project also planned for the construction of a modern 500-bed Teaching Hospital on an adjacent lot with the Faculties of Medicine and Dentistry of Saigon complete with a helipad during the second phase. However, this plan never came to fruition as the Americans began to disengage from the War. At that office of the “Y Khoa Tình Thương” Magazine, we recalled having told, more than once, the visiting American reporters that after the Vietnam War people would no longer remember how many fighter planes or helicopters were shot down but the Medical School Building of the Faculties of Medicine and Dentistry of Saigon will always represent in their mind a constructive symbol of America in Vietnam.

[Fig. 2] During the Vietnam War, the construction of the Medical School Building of the Faculties of Medicine and Dentistry of Saigon was begun in the spring of 1963 and completed in the fall of 1966, as the American Medical Association’s project in South Vietnam. Original plan of a modern University Hospital on adjacent land was not fulfilled.

Almost half a century later, the Medical School Building of the Faculties of Medicine and Dentistry of Saigon on Hồng Bàng Boulevard, that “made in USA” edifice [whose cost was not much higher than that of a downed helicopter] still stands there braving the elements not only as a physical presence but, more than that, as a meaningful and beautiful symbol in the mind of the Vietnamese on both sides of the conflict.

TO A PROJECT BORN IN LAOS

The time frame was the year 2,000, and the location the Mekong Delta where Vietnam, the country located at the mouth of the river, has to suffer from all the nefarious effects emanating from the irresponsible exploitation projects upstream the current. It is in this country that we can witness the combined impacts of climate change along with salt intrusion and the rising of the sea water. For that reason, the author has put forth a proposal to establish a Department of the Mekong at the University of Cần Thơ, Vietnam to act as a “think tank” on an international scale where research and instruction could be carried out to provide the needed “gray matter” for the entire Mekong Basin. [13]