Memorandum of UnderstandingBetween

the Mekong River Commission Secretariat andthe ASEAN Secretariat

Preamble

REAFFIRMING the development of partnership between theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations Secretariat (the"ASEC") and the Mekong River Commission Secretariat (the"MRCS") to contribute towards the sustainable developmentof the Mekong Basin. The ASEC and the MRCS have agreedto increase their cooperation and enter into partnership infields of common interest.

NOTING the Memorandum of Understanding (the "MoU")sets out the modalities under which ASEC and MRCS intendto closely collaborate.

Noting

1. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) isan intergovernmental institution established on 8 August1967 in Bangkok by the five original Member States, namely,Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.Brunei Darussalam joined on 8 January 1984, Vietnam on 28July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, andCambodia on 30 April 1999. The ASEAN Secretariat islocated in Jakarta, Indonesia

2. The ASEAN Charter entered into force on 15 December2008 and it is a legally binding agreement among the tenMember States. The Charter provides the legal andinstitutional framework for the realisation of the ASEANCommunity by 2015.

3. At the 13th and 14th ASEAN Summits held in 2007 and2008, respectively, the Leaders adopted the ASEANEconomic Community Blueprint, the ASEAN Socio-CulturalCommunity Blueprint and the ASEAN Political-Security

Community Blueprint and the IAI Work Plan II which servesas the Roadmap for an ASEAN Community (2009-2015).

4. The Roadmap provides strategic plan of actions inpromoting sustainability of water resources to ensureequitable accessibility and sufficient water quantity ofacceptable quality to meet the needs of the people ofASEAN.

5. The ASEAN has established an ASEAN Working Groupon Water Resources Management (AWGWRM) underauspices of the ASEAN Senior Officials on the Environment(ASOEN) to coordinate and review regional cooperationrelated to water resources management in ASEAN. ASOENagreed to develop the ASEAN Climate Change Initiative(ACCI). The objective of the initiatives is to enhance regionaland international cooperation to address the issue of climatechange and its impact on socio-economic development,health and the environment.

6. The ASEAN has developed specific mechanisms ofspecific relevance for the Mekong River Commission (MRC)such as the ASEAN-Mekong Basin DevelopmentCooperation (AMBDC), ASEAN Community Blueprints(2009-2015), the IAI Work Plan II, the Joint Declaration onASEAN-China Strategic Partnership for Peace andProsperity and the ASEAN Senior Officials on theEnvironment (ASOEN).

7. In 1996, the AMBDC has identified economic promotionand sustainable development of the Mekong River Basin asa major area of focus with a specific emphasis ontraffic/transportation, trade and human resourcesdevelopment. In 2004, at the to" ASEAN Summit inVientiane, Lao PDR, the Heads of State and Government ofthe ASEAN agreed on enhancing economic cooperation andintegration among Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and VietNam through the Vientiane Action Programme, which is nowreplaced by Roadmap for an ASEAN Community (2009-2015). The AMBDC has provided guidance and inspiration to

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the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) as well as other donors regarding the issuesand opportunities for Mekong support, and it has positionedthe ASEAN Secretariat as a partner to the MRC Secretariatas well as to the MRC's Governments - through theirrespective National Mekong Committees (NMCs), the JointCommittee (JC), and the Ministries and line agencies.

8. The Plan of Action 2005-2010 to Implement the JointDeclaration on ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership forPeace and Prosperity adopted at the 8th ASEAN-ChinaSummit held in Vientiane on 29 November 2004 includes asection on the Mekong River Basin DevelopmentCooperation (Section 2.9) that covers areas of involvementof MRC such as improvement of the navigational safety onthe Lancang-Mekong River; expansion of the EnvironmentalImpact Assessment of the navigation channel on the upperMekong River; management and monitoring of water qualityof Mekong river; sustainable use including the equitableaccess and benefit sharing of the sub-region's shared naturalresources and their biodiversity; exchange of information andstrengthen cooperation concerning the use of water in theLancang-Mekong River, with a view to achieve sustainabledevelopment of all riparian countries; and cooperativeactivities to address global warming.

Noting

9. The MRC is an intergovernmental organizationestablished through the Agreement on the Cooperation forthe Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin (the1995 Agreement). The MRC aims at managing anddeveloping the water resources of the Mekong River Basin inan integrated, sustainable and equitable manner for themutual benefit of the basin countries. Based on the 1995Mekong Agreement; the MRC vision is "an economicallyprosperous, socially just and environmentally sound MekongRiver Basin, to promote and coordinate sustainablemanagement and development of water and related

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resources for the countries' mutual benefit and the people'swell being".

1O. The mandate of MRC is to coordinate and promotecooperation in all fields of sustainable development,utilization, management and conservation of the water andrelated resources of the Mekong Basin. The MRC has thusdeveloped an expertise on integrated water resourcesmanagement encompassing hydrological information, waterbased development scenario, basin development plan,environment, water quality and ecosystems, hydropower,fisheries, navigation, agriculture, irrigation, watershedmanagement, flood forecast, flood mitigation and drought.

11. The four MRC Member Countries are also members ofASEAN and Mekong-related issues are being consideredunder various ASEAN frameworks such as the Initiative forASEAN Integration, the AMBDC forum, the ASOEN as wellas under the ASEAN-China Dialogue discussions.

12. The ASEC has been one of the observers to MRCGovernance meetings since 2005. The ASEAN under theJapan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF) has been supportingthe MRC Initiative on Sustainable Hydropower since 200i.

Purpose

13. The ASEC can further expand regional integrationthrough the MRCS with the sustainable development andjoint management of water and related resources in theMekong River Basin. The MRC can provide expertise onintegrated water resources management to the wider ASEANmembership. The MRC can benefit from enhanced politicalrecognition through relevant ASEAN frameworks.

14. Thus, the ASEC and the MRCS recognize thatpartnerships are essential, building on synergies of eachorganization's strengths and their shared vision of economic

1 The initial project name is "Initial Analysis of Hydropower Potentials in LowerMekong Basin in relation to Cumulative Transboundary Impacts"

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integration and sustainable development. It is thusconsidered mutually beneficial for ASEC and MRCS - andthe countries that they serve in the Mekong Basin - todevelop closer, more formal working arrangements.

Objectives

15. The objective of this MoU is to provide a framework fordeveloping and maintaining cooperation between ASEC andMRCS in the field of their common interests and to ensureclose coordination, better utilization of resources so as toachieve effective outcomes on regional cooperation for thesustainable development of the Mekong River Basin. TheMoU shall be reviewed regularly and adjusted as moreexperience is gained.

Areas of Cooperation

16. The ASEC and MRCS agreed to develop theirpartnership as follows:

16.1. Allow representatives to attend respective meetings, asdeemed appropriate.

16.2. The ASEC and the MRCS intend to prepare jointactivities under the following ASEAN focus areas:

16.2.1. (i) Provide more assistance to Cambodia, LaoPDR, Myanmar and Viet Nam (CLMV) Countries in theimplementation of the ASEAN Strategic Plan of Action onWater Resources Management.

Contextual activities at MRC would be the BasinDevelopment Plan Programme that develops an IWRM-based basin development strategy and project portfolio forthe management and development of water and relatedresources.

16.2.1. (ii) Organise training courses and workshopsfor CLMV countries to enhance capabilities in disasterresponses, and search and rescue.

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Contextual activities at MRC would be the MRC FloodManagement and Mitigation Programme that works along thefull spectrum of flood related risk, providing forecastingservices, and promoting structural and institutionalmanagement and mitigation measures.

16.2.1. (iii) Assess the impact of climate change onbiodiversity, water resources, climate related disasters suchas floods and fires, and draw up adaptation and mitigationplans by 2012.

Contextual activities at MRC would be the MRC ClimateChange and Adaptation Initiative that investigates the effectsof climate variability and change in the basin, theirimplications on water and related resources and dependinglivelihoods, and aims to improve the resilience of the affectedpopulation.

16.2.1. (iv) Enhance the capacity of CLMV countries inmanaging environmental pollution.

Contextual activities at MRC would be the MRCEnvironmental Programme that coordinates water qualityand bio-monitoring systems on the Mekong mainstream andselected tributaries. An initiative defining the significance oftributaries of the Mekong River system classifies all streamsand catchments of the basin to international standards,establishes their key physical properties, and environmentaland social features, as well as current and potential resourceuse and develops a methodology to assess up anddownstream interdependencies and cumulative impacts ofproposed developments.

16.3. Other areas of cooperation would be explored to buildon synergies of each organization's strength such asprincipled common approaches to environmental standardsor build on synergies between the policy level initiatives ofASEC and the technical level experience of MRCS.

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Principles of Cooperation

17. From the foregoing, this partnership would move forwardon the basis of the following premises:

• Mutual respect for each other's complementarystrengths and objectives;

• Mutual support in fulfilling each other's mission;• Mutual benefit in the activities ASEC and MRCS

will collaborate on, under this MoU. Theirselection and development to bring clear benefitto both organizations and their constituents;

• Mutual recognition: public statements andpublications regarding activities undertakenjointly under this MoU will acknowledge thispartnership;

• Enhancement of each other's effectiveness whileavoiding duplication of effort;

• Commitment to finding ways to achieve morethan either organization could accomplishindependently;

• Commitment to a responsive, flexible, andtransparent approach to developing and carryingout joint activities.

Mechanism of Cooperation

18. Specific cooperation in the areas set out in this MoU orother cooperation between the ASEC and the MRCS will beset out in specific documents detailing the implementationmodalities, work plan and budgets for such cooperation. Anannual consultation meeting will be held which will reviewcurrent and planned cooperation and agree on an overallannual work plan for this MoU. Other matters of mutualinterest may be raised at these meetings.

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Responsibility for the partnership

19. The Head of the Initiative for ASEAN Integration &Narrowing the Development Gap Division, ASEC and theChief Executive Officer of the MRC Secretariat shall haveoverall responsibility for ensuring that the objectives of thisMoU are met. The present MoU is executed on behalf of theMRC through the MRC Secretariat.

Channel of Communication

20. The channel of communication between the two partieswill be (i) for technical matters: for the MRCS: The Chief ofInternational Cooperation and Communication Section(ICCS); for the ASEC: The Head of the EnvironmentDivision, the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Department;(ii) for policy matters: for the MRCS: The Chief ExecutiveOfficer (CEO) of the MRCS; for the ASEC: The Head of theInitiative for ASEAN Integration & Narrowing theDevelopment Gap Division, the ASEAN EconomicCommunity Department.

Limits to Agreement

21. Any sharing of confidential information between theParties will be subject to respective policies and proceduresof the party providing the information relating to thedisclosure of confidential information.

Timeframe, Modification and Termination

22. This MoU shall come into force and effect upon signatureby both Parties. The MoU will be for a period of five yearsand will be jointly reviewed by the Parties at least every twoyears.

23. This Memorandum may be modified or terminated at anytime by mutual written agreement of the Parties. Further, theMemorandum may be terminated by either Party at its solediscretion with 60 days prior notice in writing to the otherParty.

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In witness whereof, the Parties have caused thisMemorandum to be executed as of the day and date writtenbelow:

Done at Hua Hin, Thailand, this Fourth Day of March in theYear Two Thousand and Ten, in a two original copies in theEnglish Language.

For the ASEC For the MRCS

SURIN PITSUWANSecretary - General of ASEAN

JEREMY BIRDChief Executive OfficerMRC Secretariat

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