Donors slash funding for MRC
As disputes multiply over the use of the Mekong, including over planned upriver dams in Laos contested by Cambodia and Vietnam, and a newly unveiled Thai plan to divert water to its drought-ravaged farms, the body tasked with mediating among the four nations is losing more than half of its resources.
The Mekong River Commission will see its development partner funding of about $115 million for the past five-year period slashed to just $53 million for 2016-2020, according to Truong Hong Tien, officer in charge of the MRC secretariat.