| The Mekong River Commission (MRC) is the main and most important international river organization in the Mekong basin in the Southeast Asia with the formation of the committee for coordination of the investigation of the Lower Mekong River Basin (LMRB). In1957, under the United Nations’support, the Mekong Committee was established in which four lower Mekong countries are the member Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. In1995, the Mekong Committee was transformed into Mekong River Commission and has since broadened its cooperation to also include the management of natural resources and the concept of sustainable development.The Lower Mekong River Basin is home to approximately60million people. For the majority of the residents, the fish and water supplies provided by the river and its tributaries are of the outmost importance for securing food production and access to fresh water. The fresh water resource is not only vital as a basic human need; it is also a necessity for the creation of a well-functioning state, as well as an essential part of domestic, agricultural and industrial uses. For the nations located in the LMRB, ranging from "least developed countries" to having "lower middle income", the value of the "mother of all rivers" lies in part on its ability to provide for food, income, and other necessities to the resident’s of the Basin.Since the1995Mekong 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 procedures for water utilization. The MRC is supporting a joint basin wide planning process with the four countries, called the Basin Development Plan, which is the basis of its Integrated Water Resources Development Programme. The lower Mekong cooperation is quite progressive through the MRC which plays very important role in bringing together all the four lower Mekong countries to discuss and manage the river. However, the activities of MRC mainly focus on technical cooperation and economic rather than political front.The three Joint Partners (China, Japan and America) are mainly key players with Mekong River Commission for driven the aim of MRC is to promote and co-ordinate sustainable management and development of water and related resources for countries’mutual benefit and the people’s well being, as China support technical cooperation by providing information on the water level on Mekong River, increased economic and now China is becoming the top trader, investor, and aid donor in the region, meanwhile Japan is one of the funding partner of the MRC as well as one of the largest shareholders in ADB, to support the Mekong Region in diverse sectors through Official Development Assistance (ODA). However, America is also an important partner of MRC for supporting the Mekong Region are environment, health and education as well.This paper aims to review the significance of China’s, Japan’s and America’s contributions to the socioeconomic development, providing grant aid for improve infrastructure, human resources, environment, health and education of four Lower Mekong River Basin countries as part of analyzing the role of these three Joint Partners in GMS. The paper focuses on the cooperation or competition aspect, especially in management and development of the Mekong River since its foundation as Mekong Committee in1957until present day (2012), which I will analyze the Mekong River Commission evaluation in cooperation for three periods over the length of its existence:1) Mekong Committee (1957-1975),2) Interim Mekong Committee (1976-1994) and3) Mekong River Commission (1995-2012) by focusing on the regional level of four MRC countries Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam, and international evolvements which are related to the cooperation in management and development the natural resources for sustainable development along the Mekong River. |
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