Clinton: U.S. will help Lower Mekong adapt to climate change
By Thanh Trung - The Saigon Times Daily
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| Vietnam's Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem (L) presents a painting to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) in Hanoi on Thursday. Clinton is in Hanoi for the 17th ASEAN Regional Forum which takes place from July 19 to 23. The painting, made with gemstones, features Clinton and her daughter Chelsea wearing traditional Vietnamese conical hats - Photo: Reuters |
HANOI – The United States is committed to a long-term engagement to help the Lower Mekong countries to build a climate change adaptation strategy, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday.
“Today we are also announcing a new three-year program to assist the countries of the Lower Mekong to develop a cooperative strategy to address and adapt to the impact of climate change on water resources to security and individual livelihoods,” she said.
America will provide US$3 million for the first year of the program, Clinton said, adding several levels of funding would be forthcoming in the next two years.
“We are working to initiate a program with the Lower Mekong countries to identify and response to emerging pandemic threats. The U.S. was contributing US$14 million to support this program in 2010. We are committed to a long-term engagement.”
Speaking at the second U.S.-Mekong ministerial meeting in Hanoi on Thursday, Clinton appreciated participating delegates’ sharing of their common concerns and commitments to the Lower Mekong region.
“We established the Lower Mekong Initiative last year in order to coordinate our efforts to protect the river system and the people in sustaining the Mekong River across national boundaries and affect the livelihoods of many communities.
“So managing the resources and defending them against threats like climate change and effected diseases is a transnational challenge and regional cooperation is central to meeting that challenge to preserving the ecological diversity and fertility of the Mekong region.”
According to Clinton’s initiative, the first U.S. Lower-Mekong Ministerial meeting was held on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers meeting and ARF in Thailand in July last year.
Clinton said, “We are making progress on a number of fronts. First, I am pleased to announce the fulfillment of the key goals from last year’s meeting. The Mekong River Commission and the Mississippi River Commission have signed their sister river partnership to share experiences and technical expertise in how to manage river resources.”
They agree to make use of the strengths of both commissions to preserve the river ecosystem and tackle problems such as sustainable basin development.
For the part of Vietnam as the host country, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem said he was pinning hopes on greater cooperation between the Mekong countries and the U.S. toward a concreted, dynamic and sustainable Mekong Sub-region.
The meeting, Khiem stressed, marked a new step in the cooperation between the Mekong Sub-region and the U.S.
Vietnam is ready to work with America and the other Mekong countries to develop a long-term cooperation plan for sustainable development, peace and stability in the region, he said.
He told the meeting, “We do not have much time for this meeting, but I’m confident that this is a valuable opportunity for us to exchange views on what we should and could do to strengthen our cooperation.”
He said he expected the results of this meeting would translate into concrete cooperation projects and programs between the Mekong countries and the U.S.
* Vietnam says efficient energy a top priority
HCMC - Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has called for Southeast Asia to give top priority to dealing with climate change and use energy more efficiently, the Vietnam News Agency reports.
Addressing the opening of the 28th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) and its partners and the ASEAN energy forum in Dalat yesterday, the meeting had an important task of outlining initiatives to help ASEAN ensure energy security, and set out priorities and specific measures.
To enable energy cooperation programs and initiatives to materialize, Dung underscored the need to find on ways to ensure ASEAN energy security in the wake of Southeast Asia’s rising energy demand to meet their post-crisis needs and respond to climate change.
As climate change has become one of the biggest challenges for ASEAN and the world as a whole, it is necessary to cooperate in researching and developing sources of energy and working out solutions to deal with climate change, he said.
To achieve its goals, he said, ASEAN member countries should step up work on a major project to build a trans-ASEAN power grid and gas pipeline system, and carry out the ASEAN Oil and Gas Security Agreement to secure uninterrupted supply of power, oil and gas, especially in emergency situations.
AMEM is bringing together 500 delegates from around the world, including ministers from the 10 ASEAN states, Japan, South Korea, China, India, New Zealand, Australia and representatives from Russia, the U.S., and the ASEAN Secretariat.