Covered Areas
CENTRAL ASIA | EAST ASIA | MEKONG REGION | SOUTH ASIA | SOUTHEAST ASIA | PACIFIC

Greater Mekong Subregion

The ADB has been promoting regional and subregional cooperation since it was established in 1966, and the bank has sponsored the building of regional cooperation mechanisms in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Central Asia. The Greater Mekong Subregion refers to five countries (Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam) and the Yunnan Province of China where the Mekong River flows from its source in Qinghai Province of China, near the snow-fed plateau of Tibet border, all the way down to South China Sea. From Qinghai Province, the Mekong River crosses Yunnan Province (China), and forms the border between Burma and Laos and most of the border between Laos and Thailand. It then flows across Cambodia and Southern Vietnam into a rich delta before emptying into the South China Sea.

The Mekong River is the longest river in Southeast Asia (12th longest in the world) about 4,200 km long (2,610 m). The Mekong River provides food, water, transport and economic sustenance to more than 50 million people lives in the basin. It supports a unique and rich ecosystem. The Mekong freshwater system is the third most diverse in the world, with more than 1,200 fish species, many of which are endemic to specific tributaries of the Mekong.

Publication

Mekong in Danger
ADB and Dams

 

Case Studies/Articles

The Expansion of ADB Influence in Cambodia’s Judging the Effectiveness of ADB Water Management The Tonle Sap Lake Basin, Dr. Carl Middleton, Fisheries Action Coalition Team - Cambodia,

Organizations active in the Mekong region

International:
NGO Forum on ADB, Oxfam America, Oxfam Australia, Mekong watch, International Rivers Network, Focus on the Global South, Bank Information Centre

Local:
NGO Forum on Cambodia, Fisheries Action Coalition Team- Cambodia, TERRA-Thailand, Earth Rights International-Thailand

Mekong Projects

CAMBODIA - National Highway 1 Project
CAMBODIA - Tonle Sap Environmental Management Project-(page under construction)
THAILAND - Samut Prakan Wastewater Management Project (SPWMP)
THAILAND - Agriculture Sector Program-(page under construction)
GMS HIGHWAY 1 (CAMBODIA)
MEKONG HYDROPOWER GRID
TONLE SAP DEVELOPMENTS (CAMBODIA)
THEUN HINBOUN (LAOS)
NAM THEUN II ADB INVOLVEMENT (LAOS)
DAMS IN BURMA
GMS FLAGSHIP PROJECTS
HIGHWAY EXTENSION IN YUNNAN