Mekong Institute (MI) Executive Director Mr. Suriyan Vichitlekarn and the senior management team met with His Excellency Ambassador Lee Wook-heon of the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Thailand and his delegation to sharpen program strategies and better align development efforts at the MI Headquarters on November 3, 2020.

“MI is contributing greatly to the deeper cooperation of the subregion,” Ambassador Wook-heon stated. He also underscored committed collaboration with countries of the Mekong subregion as espoused by the “Mekong-ROK Partnership,” particularly in delivering targeted efforts that will promote the efficient recovery of the subregion from socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19.  

Mr. Suriyan acknowledged the strong support of ROK in helping foster deeper partnerships for peace and prosperity. “MI is a proud partner of ROK because regional cooperation mechanisms such as the Mekong-Republic of Korea Cooperation Fund (MKCF) are critical for the sustainable development of the region,” he said.

Beginning in 2013, MI has been serving as fund manager of MKCF and as implementing agency of the “Market Access Through E-Commerce Promotion for Women-Led SMEs” project under the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

During the meeting, the officials also discussed complementing ROK’s development support in the subregion with MI’s Strategic Plan 2021-2025. In the pipeline is a proposed ROK-MI assessment of the latter’s program outcomes and progress under MKCF and KOICA in early 2021. Findings from the activity will be the springboard of future ROK-MI initiatives, which will further strengthen human resource development, enhance policy-support studies, and solution-finding dialogues for a more integrated, inclusive, and stronger subregion.