Hanoi, 08/01/2025 – The second Urban Mekong Corridor Initiative Dialogue was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on December 5-6. The Mekong Urban Corridor Initiative (UMCI), created to improve and optimize the connection and sustainable development of cities and urban centres located along the Mekong River, is promoted by the Cities Alliance, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in partnership with the United Cities and Local Governments Asia-Pacific.
The Mekong River is the longest transboundary river and passes through Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. The AICS Hanoi office, represented by Daniele Pittalis, Senior Wash Expert, participated in the conference in the Cambodian capital together with government representatives of the various countries involved and civil society organizations engaged in proposing green, inclusive, and sustainable solutions in the area.
Ongoing challenges in the Region, such as population growth and the consequent increase in urbanization, economic development, wastewater pollution, and the need to adapt to the impacts of climate change, are driving the countries involved to take collective governance action to protect the entire population.
The event, in addition to promoting exchange, learning, and cooperation among the countries along the Mekong River, was an important opportunity for an in-depth discussion on the most effective common strategy to adopt for waste and water resource management, including the adoption of nature-based solutions. The occasion, from AICS Hanoi’s viewpoint, provided elements to grasp the real needs of the Region for proper planning of new initiatives on environmental sustainability and resource management, considering the perspective within the Italy-ASEAN partnership and the upcoming implementation of the regional statistics project, which involves Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The initiative aims to create quality environmental indicators and homogeneous statistical data to be used in urban contexts to support regional governance for better planning and more effective management of resources and environmental emergencies. Indeed, the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, the recently adopted document of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, proposes the construction of a resilient, innovative network, the epicentre of the Indo-Pacific Region, and able to reduce the development gap via a multidimensional approach to sustainability by 2045.