Mr Mam Sambath, DPA Executive Director, will attend an NGO Strategy Meeting to discuss
the social and environmental impacts of Chinese overseas investments in the Mekong region
being held at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok on August 12th and 13th, 2010. The aim of
the meeting is to bring together Chinese NGOs and regional activists working with communities
and organizations in the Mekong region on the impacts of Chinese overseas investments.
The meeting is hosted by Focus on the Global South, an NGO afflilated with the Chulalongkorn
University Social Research Institute, in co-operation with Bank Information Center, Friends
of the Earth-US, International Rivers, Mekong Watch and Towards Ecological Recovery and
Regional Alliance (TERRA).
The knowledge-building and skill-sharing meeting seeks to build effective strategies to make
Chinese investments in the Mekong more sustainable and to avoid the destructive effects
of investment experiences from Western companies on the region. It also seeks to develop
cooperative initiatives among Chinese NGOs and Mekong campaigners to work together in the
future.
According to the National Development and Reform Commission, the investment volume
between China and Asean has jumped from 230 Million USD in 2003 to 10 billion USD in April
2010.