NGÔ THẾ VINH
FOREWORD: This is the second of three articles entitled “A Look Forward
into the Next Half Century” discussing the prospects confronting the Mekong
Delta. The first article offers an overview of the situation with this main
conclusion: the governments of the countries bordering the Mekong are still
convinced that hydropower remains the least expensive source of energy to sustain
their nations’ pace of economic development. Sooner or later, the exploitation
of the hydropower potentials of the Mekong will prove to be an irreversible
process that will forge ahead over the last half of this century regardless
of the impacts that may be brought to bear on the eco-system of the Mekong,
particularly of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.
The readers should be reminded of this historical fact: it is the Vietnamese
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Nguyen Manh Cam, who signed the Agreement to
establish the Mekong River Commission in 1995. This Agreement contains a fundamental
change that robs the member countries of their power to “veto” any projects
they deem detrimental to the river or to the neighboring states. More than once,
the author has expressed his reservations on this issue and emphasized that
Vietnam has committed a strategic mistake when it agreed to this change because
this country lies at the southern end of the river.
