The Procedures for Water Quality agreement, the first of its kind and sealed by environment and water ministers from the four countries at the 17th annual meeting of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Council in HCM City, seeks to safeguard the basin and prepare people and agencies to respond to environmental emergencies.

It commits the four riparian countries to adopt mutually-recognised standards for measurement, monitoring, and assessment of water quality.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai said in his welcome remarks that the lower Mekong Basin faces several challenges that threaten natural resources, particularly water, and the livelihoods of tens of millions of residents.

He called for an action plan for the basin to respond to climate changes while protecting the environment and the lives of millions of people downstream.

Strategic partners

He stressed the need for increased co-operation with strategic partners, including dialogue partners like mainland China and Myanmar, and developing the council into an independent manner.

The Vietnamese Government is determined to co-operate fully with other Council members to implement the 1995 Mekong Agreement and Hua Hin Declaration for sustainable development of the Mekong basin, he said.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen, chairman of the MRC Council, also noted that climate change was a big concern in the basin, particularly rising sea levels and salinity.

The two problems would affect not only agriculture, aquaculture, and fisheries, but also the livelihood of local people.

"Our top priority will be to integrate climate change-related factors into the planning process of relevant sectors.

Jeremy Bird, chief executive officer of the Mekong River Commission, said: "This trans-boundary co-operation commitment is a major step towards securing the environmentally-sound future of the Mekong River.

"Together with implementation of the four other agreements under the 1995 Mekong Agreement, this will help bring about timely protection of both livelihoods of people and aquatic species throughout the basin."

More than 60 million people, most of them living in rural areas in the basin, depend heavily on the river for food and livelihood.

(VNS, 27/1/2011)