The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) workshop on water and river basin management wrapped up on March 22 in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho.

Participants proposed measures to help member nations shift to a sustainable development model and further Asia-Europe cooperation in water resource protection, sustainable management of river basins and green growth.

New approaches for development and poverty reduction, more effective measures on building infrastructure and institutions that adapt to climate change, as well as green technologies in water treatment, and public-private cooperation were also put forward.

Suggestions for ASEM to broaden engagement and support for regional and sub-regional cooperation mechanisms including Mekong and Danube sub-regions on water management were agreed upon.

Initiated by Vietnam, the event is the first activity of a joint initiative of six Mekong–Danube Cooperation Initiative member nations, adopted at the ninth ASEM Summit in Vientiane, Laos last July to establish a periodic mechanism called “ASEM dialogue on sustainable development”.

The next meeting will be hosted by Romania in 2014.-VNA