The Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) Regional Working Group Meeting will take place in Bangkok on January 29-30, focusing on cooperation on water, energy, and food issues.

The meeting is expected to draw the participation of officials from the six LMI countries, namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the United States, along with representatives from the Friends of the Lower Mekong (FLM), including Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the Mekong River Commission (MRC), the ASEAN Secretariat, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Participants will discuss collaboration in public health, connectivity, education, environment and water, agriculture and food security, and energy security.

They will also touch upon the cross-cutting issues of Water, Energy and Food Security Nexus.

This will be the first time for the Eminent and Expert Persons Group (EEPG) to meet and discuss recommendations for achieving sustainability in the region.

On the occasion, Thailand and the US will co-host the Working Group Meetings on Education and Energy Security.

The LMI framework was established to reduce the development gap among the ASEAN countries in order to facilitate the implementation of the ASEAN Community's integration.-VNA