Scholars from Russia and Southeast Asia Countries on the Present and Future of Mekong River

This is an overview of the conference “Mekong: Regional Challenges and Possible Solutions” organized by the Center for Vietnam and ASEAN Studies of the Institute of China and Contemporary Asia within Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Center for Scientific and Analytical Information of the Institute of Oriental Studies within Russian Academy of Sciences, with the support of the Gorchakov Foundation. The conference participants examined the geopolitical situation in the Greater Mekong Sub-region, assessed its resources, peculiarities of socio-economic development of individual states, summarized various opinions on sustainable development of the GMS, identified the main contradictions associated with the transboundary nature of the river, analyzed plans, the effectiveness of cooperation mechanisms between neighboring countries and external partners, as well as put forward proposals for solving existing problems with the participation of Russia.