Time:2010/11/12 

On November 5, 2010, CISS hosted Mr. Jeremy Bird, Chief Executive Officer of the Mekong River Commission, who was in town as an invited speaker in Beijing Forum 2010. At CISS’ request, Mr. Bird delivered a talk about transnational water resource issues along the Lancang-Mekong River systems. Among the audience were invited officers from government departments, research fellows from think-tanks affiliated with various ministries, as well as research officers from the China State Grid Corporation. The talk was chaired by Professor Zha Daojiong, a member of the CISS academic committee. 

 Mr. Bird’s lecture covered a range of different points. He first introduced the history of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) and its routine operations, while outlining contours for the MRC to function in water resource management by its member states. He then outlined preliminary conclusions from research conducted by the MRC on the topic of how development projects upstream may be affecting changes in the ecological environment for the river downstream as well as its adjacent lakes.. Mr. Bird analyzed how China’s development of upstream areas along the Mekong has been portrayed in regional media and what mechanisms of communication and exchange have been developed between the MRC and Chinese government department agenciess and hydropower companies. He also elaborated on future institutional developments of the MRC. 

After his presentation, Mr. Bird took questions from the audience and engaged in discussions on a wide array of topics of mutual interest.