Nations around one of the world’s great rivers, the Mekong, are tightening transport and other links, but have neglected the region’s very heart — the river itself, a Cambodian minister said yesterday.
At a meeting of the six countries surrounding the Mekong, Cambodian Senior Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh said the potential of the 4,800km river has been neglected as the region develops road links and “economic corridors,” which he likened to arteries.
“But we forget the heart and the Mekong River is the heart. We need to develop the heart first,” he told reporters after making his suggestion to a conference of fellow ministers.
He was speaking at the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) conference. GMS is an Asian Development Bank-supported program that began 18 years ago to promote development through closer economic links. Along with Cambodia it includes Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand, as well as China’s Yunnan Province and the Chinese Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Cham Prasidh said the Mekong should be developed for river transport to enable trade, while the livelihoods of people living along it should be enhanced.
He also proposed that agriculture around the river be developed in accordance with an ecosystem that is changing because of global warming.
“Actually ... the transportation of all the goods through the Mekong River should be the cheapest way of transport” once it is cleared of rocks and obstacles, he said. “By so doing we also open the door for Laos, from being a landlocked country to open it to the sea.”
No other ministers mentioned the Mekong in their opening remarks, except for Thailand’s lead delegate, who mentioned a need for “better management” of the river.
Delegates were expected later yesterday to endorse a plan for connecting regional rail lines, which Cham Prasidh said would be another cheap way of transporting goods to the Mekong nations and beyond, to other members of ASEAN.
The plan cites four possible ways of connecting the railways, but it says the most viable route would stretch from Bangkok to Phnom Penh, then Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, and finally up to Nanning and Kunming, largely using existing lines or those already under construction.
The only missing link on that route would be between Ho Chi Minh City and Phnom Penh, it says, estimating a cost of US$1.09 billion for completion.
This does not include roughly US$7 billion in additional funding needed to upgrade the existing lines. By 2025, an estimated 3.2 million passengers and 23 million tonnes of freight are forecast for the completed route, the document says.
The military is to begin conscripting civilians next year, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said yesterday, citing rising tensions with Thailand as the reason for activating a long-dormant mandatory enlistment law. The Cambodian parliament in 2006 approved a law that would require all Cambodians aged 18 to 30 to serve in the military for 18 months, although it has never been enforced. Relations with Thailand have been tense since May, when a long-standing territorial dispute boiled over into cross-border clashes, killing one Cambodian soldier. “This episode of confrontation is a lesson for us and is an opportunity for us to review, assess and
The Russian minister of foreign affairs warned the US, South Korea and Japan against forming a security partnership targeting North Korea as he visited the ally country for talks on further solidifying their booming military and other cooperation. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov spoke on Saturday in Wonsan City, North Korea, where he met North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un and conveyed greetings from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kim during the meeting reaffirmed his government’s commitment to “unconditionally support and encourage all measures” taken by Russia in its conflict with Ukraine. Pyongyang and Moscow share identical views on “all strategic issues in
‘FALSE NARRATIVE’: China and the Solomon Islands inked a secretive security pact in 2022, which is believed to be a prelude to building a Chinese base, which Beijing denied The Australian government yesterday said it expects China to spy on major military drills it is conducting with the US and other allies. It also renewed a charge — denounced by Beijing as a “false narrative” — that China wants to establish a military base in the South Pacific. The comments by a government minister came as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made a six-day visit to China to bolster recently repaired trade ties. More than 30,000 military personnel from 19 nations are set to join in the annual Talisman Sabre exercises from yesterday across Australia and Papua New Guinea. “The Chinese military have
The US Department of Education on Tuesday said it opened a foreign funding investigation into the University of Michigan (UM) while alleging it found “inaccurate and incomplete disclosures” in a review of the university’s foreign reports, after two Chinese scientists linked to the school were separately charged with smuggling biological materials into the US. As part of the investigation, the department asked the university to share, within 30 days, tax records related to foreign funding, a list of foreign gifts, grants and contracts with any foreign source, and other documents, the department said in a statement and in a letter to
RSS