Vietnam-focused private equity firm Mekong Capital is looking to build a climate fund worth up to $200 million as early as next year, focusing on investments that will help with the regeneration of forests in the Mekong region.

The Ho Chi Minh City-based firm is setting up a team for the fund, which will look at businesses that will help restore forests including those involved in organic and seaweed farming in the Mekong region comprising Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, its founder and partner Chris Freund told Reuters.

“There are actually a lot of businesses like that that are doing those things in this region,” Freund said in an interview. “But there’s really no fund investing in those.”

The climate fund is set to be the first to focus specifically on Southeast Asia with the launch coming at a time when investors globally are increasingly focusing on investments that can help in the fight against global warming.

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Giving equal momentum to development remains the major topic that the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) nations – Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) – will discuss at the 54th ASEAN Economic Ministers’ (AEM) Meeting, slated to kick off on September 14 in Siem Reap town.

Pen Sovicheat, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, said on September 11 that he had not yet received an agenda for the CLMV meeting, but it was likely to focus on equal development between ASEAN member states.

“As we all know, of the 10 ASEAN members, six are regarded as highly-developed nations, whereas CLMV’s development is considered limited,” he said.

The spokesman said that over the years, CLMV have discussed providing equal momentum for development to ensure that ASEAN-wide economies are resilient.

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The 7th Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting begins today in Bagan, Myanmar. 

Including China, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, LMC is a multilateral cooperation group that oversees transboundary water management in the Mekong. During the meeting, the foreign ministers will evaluate the progress of the Five-Year Plan of Action on the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation and unveil the LMC National Coordination Unit building in Myanmar. 

The meeting coincides with the visit of ASEAN’s special envoy and Cambodian Foreign Minister–Prak Sokhonn.  During this second visit to Myanmar as the special ASEAN envoy, Sokhoon will meet with the junta government to discuss the ASEAN approach to Myanmar’s current situation.  

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China has committed to many regional development projects under the Belt and Road Initiative and the LMC with the Mekong-Lancang countries.

Thong Mengdavid, a research associate of the Mekong Center for Strategic Studies at the Asian Vision Institute, a think tank in Phnom Penh, told China Daily that China has committed to many regional development projects under the Belt and Road Initiative and the LMC.

“Regional cooperation should be endorsed and strengthened for the welfare of the people living in the Mekong-Lancang countries,” Thong Mengdavid said.

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Cambodia is well-prepared to minimise economic risks when it graduates from its Least Developed Countries status, according to a senior official at the Ministry of Commerce on May 7.

Four LDCs – Cambodia, Laos, Bangladesh and Nepal – met at a virtual workshop last week to explore potential solutions for managing a smooth exit from their UN designations, discuss potential challenges in the post-LDC era, and assess the impact of Covid-19 on the textile and garment sectors.

Ministry secretary of state Pich Rithy participated as a speaker at the event, which was co-organised by the World Trade Organisation, UN, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, UN Conference on Trade and Development, and International Trade Centre.

Rithy stressed the importance of the garment sector in promoting Cambodia’s economic growth, and the benefits of preferential tariffs for increased export volumes.

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The United Nations (UN) has confirmed that it will continue to support the Lao government under the Cooperation Framework, to enable the government to design a clear strategy for the development of Laos.

The Cooperation Framework builds on inputs from all key stakeholders, including the UN development system and other development partners, to ensure that it responds to national strategic priorities that speak to development needs and priorities and leaves no one behind.

UN Resident Coordinator to the Lao PDR, Ms Sara Sekkenes, told a Technical Meeting of the Lao Government and United Nations Joint Steering Committeethat the co-creation of the next Government of the Lao PDR – UN Cooperation Framework is crucial in ensuring co-ownership.

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Vietnam’s Mekong Delta is approximately the same size as the Netherlands — about 41,000 square kilometers (16,000 square miles) — and is home to 17 million people, very nearly the same population as the Netherlands. Perhaps that made dialogue easier.

Unlike many foreign experts, the Dutch participants in the Mekong Delta Plan (MDP) dialogue were patient and brought plenty of relevant experience to the table. They were able negotiators, too; though officials from Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MONRE) are natural rivals, the Dutch were adept at keeping both sets of Vietnamese participants engaged in productive conversation.

The group reached agreement that the environmental health of Vietnam’s vast and hugely fertile Mekong Delta could not be sustained by deployment of an “ever-more complicated array of hydraulic works.” At the end of 2013, after four years of discussion, the experts signed off on a 126-page plan that was strongly biased toward adaptive rather than mechanical fixes.

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The Government of Norway through Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) confirmed its commitment to continue supporting Cambodia’s mine clearance efforts by providing $5 million for the next four years.

The assistance was made known by Mr. Zlatko Vezillic, Programme Manager for NPA’s Cambodia’s Mine Action and Disarmament programme while paying a farewell visit to Cambodian Senior Minister and First Vice President of Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) Ly Thuch.

Mr Thuch expressed his profound thanks to Norway for its active contribution to mine clearance activities in the Kingdom so as to achieve the status of landmine-free Cambodia by 2025.

He also spoke highly of the success of Mr. Vezillic’s four-year mission in the Kingdom. After Cambodia, he will assume the new role as NPA’s Operations Manager in Zimbabwe. 

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