New transboundary water resources cooperation for Greater Mekong Subregion: the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation

Abstract

The Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) is a new type of regional cooperation mechanism in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). It was officially co-founded by six Lancang-Mekong countries in 2016. Water resources cooperation is the flagship field of the LMC. The goal of this article is to introduce comprehensively the LMC and to illustrate why it can be regarded as a new choice for regional water resources cooperation in the GMS. This paper first reviews the background to LMC's foundation, and then introduces the structural framework, operating mechanism and recent advances of the LMC. It will then analyze the deficiencies of the present water resources cooperation mechanisms in the GMS and the comparative advantages of water resources cooperation under LMC. Finally, some suggestions were given to improve and reinforce water resources cooperation under the LMC. This research concludes that the LMC is more suitable for the actual needs and objective reality of Lancang-Mekong countries owing to its high-level and all-round regional cooperation mechanism. It was established jointly by all riparian states, with a shared vision to enhance the well-being of six countries' people, and works to narrow the development gap among regional countries.

Are Transboundary Water Events Reported Differently in French and English News for Conflict and Cooperation Dynamics?

“…It flows from the Tibetan Plateau in China, then flows through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, and finally flows into the South China Sea. More than 70 million people depend on the Lancang-Mekong River system for water supply, food production, and transportation [43,44]. The speaking languages of the Lancang-Mekong countries are shown in Table 1 [45][46][47][48].…”

“…It flows from the Tibetan Plate flows through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, and the South China Sea. More than 70 million people depend on the Lanca system for water supply, food production, and transportation [43,44]. guages of the Lancang-Mekong countries are shown in In the Lancang-Mekong River basin, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam used to be French colonies, because of which there is a degree of influence on the French in these regions.…”

ASEAN Amid Mekong's Overlap Institutions: Visible or Invisible?

“…Schmeier also mentions that the organizations in the Mekong, namely the Mekong River Commission (MRC) and Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), contributed to regionalization in the region. In addition, Junlin et al (2021) explained that the Mekong region has much regional cooperation. Moreover, they point out that the leading regional institutions, such as GMS, AMBDC, and MRC, before LMC was established.…”

Cooperative Governance of Transboundary Water in Greater Mekong Subregion: Challenges in the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation

“…Another factor that hinders joint effort lies in the participation of outside stakeholders. Many present cooperative mechanisms are initiated by external countries [27]. Similar to the different focuses and interests of countries within the region, the participation of outside stakeholders with different aims would further complicate the challenges of cooperation.…”