On 16-17 November 2017, Mr. Nikorndej Balankura, Deputy Director-General of the Department of International Economic Affairs, led the Thai delegation comprising representatives from 11 government agencies to the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) and Friends of the Lower Mekong (FLM) 

10th Regional Working Group Meeting in Vientiane, Lao PDR. The Meeting was co-chaired by Mr. Jeffrey Graham, Acting Director, Multilateral Affairs, U.S. Department of State, and Mr. Virasac Somphong, Deputy Director, Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Lao PDR. Participating Friends of the Lower Mekong (FLM) members included delegates from Australia, Japan, Germany, Asian Development Bank, and World Bank.

 

As a follow-up to the implementation of the LMI Master Plan of Action 2016 - 2020, the Meeting’s topics of discussion included identifying potential areas and best practices for private sector engagement, current and future LMI priorities, and restructuring the LMI Pillars: Agriculture and Food Security, Connectivity, Education, Energy Security, Environment and Water, and Public Health. In addition, a separate event was also held to discuss “Mekong Water Data Initiative”, proposed by the United States, and endorsed at the 10th LMI Ministerial Meeting in August 2017. The initiative aims at developing science-based decisions on the shared river system, while enhancing the Mekong River Commissions technical capabilities. 

 

Thailand’s HOD co-chaired the meeting under the Energy Security Pillar with the United States, where he led the discussion on energy connectivity. Furthermore, Thailand reaffirmed the commitment to utilize its leading role as host of ACMECS Summit in 2017-2018 to promote alignment and synergy of all regional platforms of cooperation, while taking into account the current challenges and new initiatives in the region, such as the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China, and the concept of "Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy”, recently introduced by Japan. 

The Lower Mekong initiative (LMI) was introduced in 2009 to promote the U.S.'s strategic rebalancing policy in the Asia-Pacific, focusing on collaborative efforts towards peace, stability and prosperity in the region.