His Excellency Mr. E Jingping, Minister of the Ministry of Water Resources, 

His Excellency Mr. Luo Zhaohui, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 

His Excellency Mr. Tian Xuebin, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Water Resources, 

Excellencies and my dear colleagues from the Embassies of the Mekong countries,  

Distinguished guests, 

Ladies and gentlemen, 

Good afternoon. 

At the outset, I would like to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to the Ministry of Water Resources for inviting me to this opening ceremony on the website of the Lancang-Mekong water resources cooperation information sharing platform. I would also like to congratulate the Ministry of Water Resources on the achievement of setting up an informative website among the Mekong-Lancang countries.  

Taking this opportunity, I would like to touch upon the Mekong-Lancang water resources cooperation. Since the inception of Mekong-Lancang cooperation, water resources cooperation is on the first track among the cooperation areas between the Mekong-Lancang countries. One year after the formation of Mekong-Lancang Cooperation, Mekong-Lancang Water Resources Cooperation Center was successfully established in June 2017 in Beijing.  

The Water Resources Cooperation Center performs as a platform for Mekong-Lancang countries to enhance the comprehensive cooperation in technical exchange, capacity building, drought and flood management, data and information sharing, joint research and analysis related to water resources. 

On top of that, the Joint Working Group of the Mekong-Lancang Water Resources Cooperation agreed the Five Year Plan of Action on Mekong- Lancang Water Resources Cooperation (2018-2022) to implement the prioritized projects under the water resources cooperation. Among the main priority areas of cooperation of the Five Year Plan of Action, Myanmar takes the leading role of “Water Resources and Green Development” area.  

In this digital era, information sharing is vital for promoting to reach the right information at the right time to the public.  

As the cooperation mechanisms on water resources have been brought onto the fast track, we need to establish an information sharing platform, which will help us better tackle climate change and natural disasters. I believe that the informative website would play a role to support not only the six Mekong-Lancang countries but also the related agencies and the world to learn how our six countries are working in sharing the hydrological information on the Mekong-Lancang River through this new platform.  

Excellencies, 

Distinguished guests, 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Mekong-Lancang Water Resources Cooperation was elevated to the Ministerial Level and the 1st Ministerial Meeting was held on 17 December 2019 in Beijing and “Joint Statement of the Ministerial Meeting of Mekong-Lancang Water Resources Cooperation” was adopted during the meeting. 

Moreover, with the China’s proposal to providing the hydrological information of Lancang River in the flood season to member countries, the Joint Working Groups of the member countries signed the “MOU under the Working Groups of Mekong-Lancang Water Resources Cooperation on the Provision of Hydrological Information of Lancang River in the Flood Season by China to the Other Five Member Countries” in 2019 in Kunming. 

As Mekong member countries, we both welcome and appreciate for the Chinese proposal. 

Excellencies, 

Distinguished guests, 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

A Mekong-Lancang river flows across our six countries every day, which signify that we are sharing the same river for applying every means available such as in the sector of agriculture, tourism and transportation.  

On this basis, we all have the responsibility to share and protect the sustainability of the river. Myanmar is always ready to have continued commitment in active cooperation for our common dream of peaceful, prosperous and developed Mekong region in the sustainable manner in line with the principles and spirit of Mekong-Lancang Cooperation. 

At the 3rd Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Leader’s meeting which was held in August 2020, Myanmar took over co-chairmanship from Lao PDR. Subsequently, Myanmar will be performing the responsibilities of co-chairmanship from the year 2020 to the year 2022. Including the 6th MLC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and 4th MLC Leader’s Meeting are scheduled to be held under the tenure of Myanmar co-chairmanship.  

In this context, Myanmar is very pleased to welcome any positive initiatives, which can contribute to the development of the peoples of Mekong regions. Myanmar is looking forward to expanding new cooperation areas in order to cope with current and future global challenges. 

In conclusion, again, I would like to congratulate on the successful website opening ceremony on sharing hydrological information on the Mekong-Lancang River. 

Thank you.