The Mekong River Commission is an intergovernmental body created in 1995 by an agreement between the governments of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam.
The Agreement on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin came about as the four countries saw a common interest in jointly managing their shared water resources and developing the economic potential of the river. Signed on 5 April 1995, it set a new mandate for the organisation "to cooperate in all fields of sustainable development, utilisation, management and conservation of the water and related resources of the Mekong River Basin".
The agreement brought a change of identity for the organisation previously known as the Mekong Committee, which had been established in 1957 as the Committee for Coordination of Investigations of the Lower Mekong Basin - the Mekong Committee.
Since the 1995 Agreement, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) has launched a process to ensure "reasonable and equitable use" of the Mekong River System, through a participatory process with National Mekong Committees in each country to develop rules and procedures for water utilisation. The MRC is supporting a joint basinwide planning process with the four countries, called the Basin Development Plan, which is the basis of its Integrated Water Resources Development Programme. The MRC is also involved in fisheries management, promotion of safe navigation, irrigated agriculture, watershed management, environment monitoring, flood management and exploring hydropower options.
The two upper states of the Mekong River Basin, the People's Republic of China and the Union of Myanmar, are dialogue partners to the MRC.
Structure
The MRC consists of three permanent bodies: the Council, the Joint Committee (JC) and the Secretariat.
The Council, comprising one member at Ministerial and Cabinet level from each MRC member country, convenes annually and has overall governance of the Mekong River Commission.
The JC, comprising also one member from each member country at Head of Department level or higher, convenes at least two times a year. This body functions as a board of management.
The Secretariat, which provides technical and administrative services to the JC and the Council, is under the direction of a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) appointed by the Council. The Secretariat is located in Vientiane, Lao PDR. The Assistant CEO is of the same nationality as the JC Chair and serves a one-year term.
The MRC is funded by contributions from the four member countries and from aid donors. Formal consultation with the donor community is carried out through an annual Donor Consultative Group meeting.
The National Mekong Committees coordinate MRC programmes at the national level and provide links between the MRC Secretariat and the national ministries and line agencies. The principal implementing agencies of the MRC programmes and projects are the line agencies of the riparian countries in the Lower Mekong Basin.