Mekong leaders pledge to boost transport links
Updated
The last remaining section of a road linking Singapore to Beijing has been officially opened by the Premiers of China, the Lao Republic and Thailand. The new all-weather highway will significantly boost tourism and trade through the Mekong region.
Presenter: Karon Snowdon
Speaker: Raekwon Chung, the UN's head of Environment and Sustainable Development for Asia Pacific; John Cooney, Infrastructure Director with the Asian Development Bank.
The last remaining section of a road linking Singapore to Beijing has been officially opened by the Premiers of China, the Lao Republic and Thailand. The new all-weather highway will significantly boost tourism and trade through the Mekong region.
Presenter: Karon Snowdon
Speaker: Raekwon Chung, the UN's head of Environment and Sustainable Development for Asia Pacific; John Cooney, Infrastructure Director with the Asian Development Bank.
Laos, China, Thailand
SNOWDON: The final section of the massive highway is known as Route No. 3 and links Kunming in southern China to Bangkok in Thailand.
Of course some parts existed in national networks anyway but the completion of all the links helps to unify part of the world ravaged by decades of colonialism, war and their aftermath.
The third summit of the Greater Mekong Sub-region brings together the premiers of all six nations and the Asian Development Bank which has been a large player in the group since it began in 1992.
The Bank's regional head of Infrastructure, John Cooney, says new roads, improved communications and plans for energy generation are helping to lift people out of poverty.
COONEY: It's done remarkable things, taking Vietnam as an example to reduce poverty from 60 per cent of the population to something a little over 20 per cent in 10 years is nothing short of spectacular. And in Cambodia, the program has restored basic access to areas that were literally cut-off, which led to access to schools, to health, to markets and what have you, has had tremendous benefit at every level of the society.
SNOWDON: The six national leaders also agreed to jointly tackle "the emergence of health risks, human and drug trafficking, and growing environmental threats".
John Cooney says these problems are not being overlooked for development at all costs.
COONEY: No I speak now for projects that we are particularly involved in, but the countries themselves, Vietnam or Cambodia for example, are very much aware and awake to the problems of HIV-AIDS, communicable diseases etc. Any of our projects are always done within the framework of our three safeguard policies - environment, involuntary re-settlement and ethnic minorities. And we find that we have no problem putting those policies in place, the governments have no problem.
SNOWDON: Yet there are almost as many critics of the Mekong's development projects as there are supporters.
Environmentalists warn of deforestation, wildlife losses and the impact of the large number of dams on the 5,000 kilometre river.
The United Nations last year issued a report which said rapid development had contributed to widespread pollution and environmental damage in much of Asia, including the Mekong.
Raekwon Chung is the Division Chief for Environment and Sustainable Development for Asia Pacific at the United Nations based in Bangkok. He says new models need to be found which aren't just about GDP growth.
CHUNG: Because the current development pattern is growth first, clean-up later approach. So everybody is obsessed about how much production you increase every year. But in fact this does not reflect the quality of life or quality of growth.
SNOWDON: Raekwon Chung argues for a new, green growth approach to all development in the region. It involves applying the real cost of using up resources for example through the tax system.
CHUNG: Which is taking into account how to grow without jeopardising ecological carrying capacity of the region. This region has a very limited ecological carrying capacity. The smallest per capita in terms of per capita, even smaller than Africa.
SNOWDON: There's been a great need of course to improve transport links and what have you, and there's a great push now to improve trade and economic activity, but is it too much?
CHUNG: Of course, this region, especially the greater Mekong sub-region, they are facing most serious challenge that is even more urgent for those countries in the greater Mekong sub-region.
SNOWDON: And how would you mostly characterise your green growth idea? How would you sum that up, how would you achieve it?
CHUNG: First of all we have to internalise ecological cost into production and consumption patterns. This is something we are advising them.
SNOWDON: The idea might take a while to gain traction in these fast growth areas of Asia and needs to be adopted by developed countries as well.
CHUNG: For a country like Cambodia is very keen but China is also, Chinese government also very keen to spread a message of green growth and the quality of growth and we are working with the Chinese government. So it is slow, but the fundamental problem is that we don't have a model to follow, so we badly need some support and partnership and cooperation with a developed country.
