As of 2023, RoK provided US$18.4 million to foster regional support and cooperation among the 5 Mekong member countries. Through 41 projects, MKCF built human resource capacities from Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam in the areas of (1) Culture and Tourism, (2) Human Resources Development, (3) Agriculture and Rural Development, (4) Infrastructure, (5) Information and Communication Technology (ICT), (6) Environment, and (7) Non-traditional Security Challenges.
*Country lead refers to lead implementing agency of the project.
MKCF PROJECTS OVERVIEW
The MKCF provides a grant for projects that are of regional in nature. Such project is aligned with the priorities of the country to address national issues that facilitate regional integration process. The regional project should address the needs of several Member States in the Mekong region.
The below are the regional projects lead by each Mekong Country, Regional Organization, and International Organization.
REGIONAL PROJECTS BY CAMBODIA
| Cambodia Lead | Project title | Status | Year of Launch | Project Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ministry of Water Resource and Meteorology | Water Resource Management and Development on the Mekong River linking with Catchment of the Tonle Sap Great Lake | Completed | 2017 | 1 year (Mar/2017 -Mar/2018) |
| Department of Green Economy, National Council for Sustainable Development, Ministry of Environment | Guidelines and Certification for Green Buildings in Cambodia | On going | 2018 | 4 years 7 months (Dec/2018 -Jul/2023 |
| General Department of Logistics, Ministry of Public Works and Transport | Capacity Building and Institutional Strengthening for Logistics Monitoring and Evaluation Database Development in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam | On going | 2020 | 3 years 1 month (Jun/2020 -Jul/2023 |
| Department of Planning and International Cooperation, Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology (MoWRM) | Data Collection and Processing for the Cambodian Irrigation Schemes Information System and Sharing Information on Water Resources between the Mekong-ROK | On going | 2022 | 1 year (Dec/2022-Dec/2023) |
| Department of Training, Techo Sen Institute of Public Works and Transport, Ministry of Public Works and Transport | Capacity Building for Road Maintenance Methodology to Promote Sustainable Infrastructure in CLV Countries | On going | 2021 | 1 year and 6 months (Dec/2021 -Jun/2023 |
| Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology (MOWRAM) | Capacity Building for Sustainable and Climate Change Resilient Water Resource Management in Mekong River Basin | On going | 2023 | 2 years and 6 months (Mar/2023-Sep/2025) |
REGIONAL PROJECTS BY LAO PDR
| Lao PDR Lead | Project title | Status | Year of Launch | Project Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legal Division, Permanent Secretary office, Ministry of Industry and Commerce | Make Legal Arrangements, Laws, Legislations, and Regulations, in Force in the Industry and Commerce Area More Electronically Available and Accessible to Public and Poor Districts in Lao PDR | Completed | 2017 | 2 years (Dec/2017 -Jan/2019) |
| Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment | Master Plan Establishment and Capacity Building for the Modernization and Advancement of Hydro-meteorological Infrastructure at Mekong River Basin in Lao PDR | Completed | 2019 | 3 years 9 months (April/2019 -Jan/2023) |
| Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Planning and Investment | Development of Regional Cooperation Project Monitoring Data Center | On going | 2020 | 2 years 5 months (Oct/2020 -Mar/2023) |
| Department of Agricultural Land Management, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) | Soil, Water and Nutrient Management (SWNM) for increasing Farm Households | On going | 2021 | 1 year 11 months (Apr/2021 -Mar/2023) |
| Department of Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry | Livelihood Development for Sustainable Forest Governance in Northern Laos | On going | 2022 | 2 years (May/2022 -May/2024 |
| Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) – Research institute for Energy and Mines (RIEM) | Development and Promoting of Solar Drying Utilization for agricultural and ODOP products | On going | 2023 | 2 years (Jan/2023 -Dec/2024 |
REGIONAL PROJECTS BY MYANMAR
| Myanmar Lead | Project title | Status | Year of Launch | Project Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Statistical Organization, Ministry of Planning and Finance | Capacity Building Project on Development of Statistics | Completed | 2017 | 6 years 2 months (Jan/2017 – Mar/2023) |
| Department of Mechanical Engineering Yangon Technological University | Capacity Enhancement on Wind Energy Usage for Sustainable Rural Development in Myanmar | On going | 2018 | 2 years (Mar/2018 – Mar/2020) |
| Forest Department Head Office, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation | Demonstration of Model Community Forests to Promote Community Forestry Development and Improve Livelihood of Local Community | On going | 2020 | 3 years (Dec/2020 – Nov/2023) |
| Land Use Division, Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation | Assessment of Heavy Metal Contamination in Soil and Water for Safety Crop Production in Myanmar | On going | 2022 | 1 year and 5 months(Oct/2022 – Mar/2024) |
| Mawlamyine University (Mon State) | Impact of Migration on Rural Development with Special Emphasis on Agriculture of Mon State, Myanmar | On going | 2022 | 2 years (Mar/2022 – Mar/2024) |
| School of Industrial Training and Education (SITE) and KRIVET | Strengthening TVET Management and Upskilling TVET Personnel to Meet Industry Demand Reflecting IR 4.0 | On going | 2023 | 2 years (Jan/2023 – Dec/2024) |
REGIONAL PROJECTS BY VIET NAM
| Viet Nam Lead | Project title | Status | Year of Launch | Project Duration |
| Department of Human Resource Development (HRD), Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), Viet Nam | Building up a tripartite model among Academies-Industries-Government for skills development and acceleration of the industrialization in Viet Nam | Completed | 2016 | 1 years (Oct/2016 -Sept/2017) |
| Agency of E-commerce and Digital Economy, Ministry of Industry and Trade | Enhancing the capacity of applying e-commerce in agriculture of Mekong Region | Completed | 2018 | 1 year (Jan/2018 – Jan/2019) |
| Viet Nam National Mekong Committee | Strengthen the Water User Organization (WUOs) for Irrigated Agriculture Development in the Mekong Delta | On going | 2023 | 2 years (Feb/2023 – Feb/2025) |
| Can Tao Climate Change Coordination Office | Developing of Climate-related Disaster Hazard Zoning Map and Enhancing the Salinity Intrusion Monitoring Network in Can Tao City | On going | 2021 | 2 years (Jun/2021 – Mar/2023) |
| Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam | Mekong Leadership Program and Capacity Building Activities (Mekong LEAD and Mekong BUILD) | On going | 2022 | 2 years (Mar/2022 – Feb/2024) |
| Southern Institute of Ecology (SIE) | Building a Portal of Ecosystems and Biodiversity Information for Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development for the Mekong | Not commence yet | – | 2 years and 6 months |
REGIONAL PROJECTS BY THAILAND
| Thailand Lead | Project title | Status | Year of Launch | Project Duration |
| National Food Institute | Comprehensive Training to Increase efficiency of Rice Production | Completed | 2017 | 9 months (Jan/2017 – Sept/2017) |
| Institute for Population and Social research, Mahidol University | Promoting Safe Migration for temporary migrants to Thailand | Completed | 2018 | 1 years (Jan/2018 -Dec/2018) |
| BIOTEC, NSTDA | Capacity Building on Circular Economy, Resource and energy Efficiency for Productivity and Sustainability of Cassava Chain to High Value Proucts: Casava Root, Native Starch and Biogas in Mekong Countries | Completed | 2020 | 2 years 6 months (Jul/2020 – Dec/2022) |
| Institute Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University | Sharing of Experiences, Best Practices and Lessons Learned in Controlling COVID-19 Outbreaks between ROK and Mekong Countries | On going | 2021 | 2 years (Mar/2021 – Mar/2023) |
| Center for Civil Society and Nonprofit Management (CSNM), Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, KKU | Enhancing Community and Small-scale Water Resource Management in the Mekong Region (ECSWRM) | On going | 2021 | 3 years (Dec/2021-Dec/2024) |
| Ministry of Interior of Thailand – Department of Provincial Administration | Enhancing People-to-People Connectivity to Address Non-traditional Security Challenges in the Mekong Region | On going | 2023 | 2 years (Jan/2023 – Jan/2025) |
REGIONAL PROJECTS BY ROK
| Project title | Status | Year of Launch | Project Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certified Logistics Master Project | Completed | 2014 | 3 years 3 months (Jun/2014-Sept/2017) |
| Green Freight and Logistics Development in Mekong countries | Completed | 2017 | 3 years (Oct/2017-Sept/2020) |
| Sustainable Smart Tourism Development in the Mekong Region | On going | 2020 | 3 years and 9 months (Apr/2020-Dec/2023) |
| Sustainable and Smart Agricultural Supply Chain Development in Mekong Countries | On going | 2021 | 1 year and 6 months (Dec/2021-May/2023) |
| Capacity Building on Regional Project Design, Implementation, Monitoring & Evaluation of MKCF Projects | On going | 2023 | 3 years (Jan/2023-Dec/2025) |
REGIONAL PROJECTS BY MI
| Project title | Status | Year of Launch | Project Duration |
| Certified Logistics Master Project | Completed | 2014 | 3 years 3 months(Jun/2014-Sept/2017) |
| Green Freight and Logistics Development in Mekong countries | Completed | 2017 | 3 years (Oct/2017-Sept/2020) |
| Sustainable Smart Tourism Development in the Mekong Region | On going | 2020 | 3 years and 9 months (Apr/2020-Dec/2023) |
| Sustainable and Smart Agricultural Supply Chain Development in Mekong Countries | On going | 2021 | 1 year and 6 months (Dec/2021-May/2023) |
| Capacity Building on Regional Project Design, Implementation, Monitoring & Evaluation of MKCF Projects | On going | 2023 | 3 years (Jan/2023-Dec/2025) |
REGIONAL PROJECTS BY INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION
Lead IO | Project title | Status | Year of Launch | Project Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
International Rice Research Institute, University of the Philippines | Rice Straw-Based Circular Economy for Improved Biodiversity and | On going | 2023 | 3 years (Feb/2023-Feb/2026) |