HANOI, Friday 20 August 2010 (AFP) -- Nations around one of the world's great rivers, the Mekong, are tightening transport and other links but have neglected the region's very heart -- the river itself, a Cambodian minister said Friday.
At a meeting of the six countries surrounding the Mekong, Cham Prasidh said the potential of the 4,800-kilometre (2,976-mile) river has been neglected as the region develops road links and "economic corridors", which he likened to arteries.
"But we forget the heart and the Mekong River is the heart. We need to develop the heart first," he told AFP after making his suggestion to a conference of fellow ministers.
"I think this is a new concept but this is something that is going to strike them all, because we have overlooked the main thing, in the Mekong."
Prasidh, Senior Minister and Minister of Commerce, was speaking at the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) conference.
GMS is an Asian Development Bank-supported programme that began 18 years ago to promote development through closer economic links. Along with Cambodia it includes Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand, as well as China's Yunnan province and the Chinese Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Prasidh said the Mekong should be developed for river transport to enable trade, while the livelihoods of people living along it should be enhanced.
He also proposed that agriculture around the river be developed in accordance with an ecosystem that is changing because of global warming.
The Mekong begins in the Tibetan Plateau, flows through China, along the northeastern border of Myanmar, and then marks the Thai-Lao frontier before pouring into the heart of Cambodia and ending at the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam.
More than 300 million people live in the area surrounding the Mekong.
At a meeting of the six countries surrounding the Mekong, Cham Prasidh said the potential of the 4,800-kilometre (2,976-mile) river has been neglected as the region develops road links and "economic corridors", which he likened to arteries.
"But we forget the heart and the Mekong River is the heart. We need to develop the heart first," he told AFP after making his suggestion to a conference of fellow ministers.
"I think this is a new concept but this is something that is going to strike them all, because we have overlooked the main thing, in the Mekong."
Prasidh, Senior Minister and Minister of Commerce, was speaking at the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) conference.
GMS is an Asian Development Bank-supported programme that began 18 years ago to promote development through closer economic links. Along with Cambodia it includes Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand, as well as China's Yunnan province and the Chinese Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Prasidh said the Mekong should be developed for river transport to enable trade, while the livelihoods of people living along it should be enhanced.
He also proposed that agriculture around the river be developed in accordance with an ecosystem that is changing because of global warming.
The Mekong begins in the Tibetan Plateau, flows through China, along the northeastern border of Myanmar, and then marks the Thai-Lao frontier before pouring into the heart of Cambodia and ending at the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam.
More than 300 million people live in the area surrounding the Mekong.
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