KOREA FOUNDATION

The Mekong River, which originates in the Tibetan Plateau in China’s Qinghai Province, passes through China and five of Southeast Asia’s mainland states (Myanmar, Lao PDR, Thailand, Cambodia, and Viet Nam). The 4,909 kilometer-long Mekong, which is dubbed the “Mother River” of Southeast Asia, is the world’s 12th longest river, has the 8th largest annual discharge of water, and boasts a biodiversity second only to the Amazon River Basin. The Mekong Basin, which is comprised of two Chinese provinces (Yunnan and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region) and the five aforementioned Southeast Asian states, forms an international trans-border economic bloc.

Interest in the Mekong Basin is growing day by day. The economic bloc formed by the Southeast Asian countries along its natural geography boasts abundant natural resources, a population of 240 million (five times that of Korea), and a land area of 1.93 million ㎢ (19 times that of Korea). In the post-China era (since the turn of the 21st century), the Mekong Basin has emerged as the region of East Asia with the most dynamic economic growth since the 1990s. Leading this trend of growth are Thailand, which succeeded in industrialization relatively early on; Viet Nam, which has surfaced as a promising emerging market and global production base through reform and openness; and Myanmar, which has been evaluated as Asia’s last untapped market. Meanwhile, Cambodia boasts the splendid culture of Angkor Wat, and Lao PDR is attempting to make good use of the Mekong’s rich water resources. Their ample potential and dynamic economic growth are bolstered by active foreign investment and development cooperation.

The Mekong Basin was quick to attract foreign attention; western powerhouses such as France and the United Kingdom had explored the Mekong before the Indochina peninsula was colonized, and the United States and Japan took similar interest both before and after the two world wars. It was after the 1980s, when Viet Nam and other Indochinese countries (except Thailand) migrated to the market economy system or began reform and openness in earnest, that the Mekong Basin became more fully developed as a subregion and economic bloc. Most representative of this era is the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Economic Cooperation Program (known as the GMS Program), which launched in 1992 under the initiative of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The GMS Program, which has been in continuous operation, has lately been very forthcoming about improving and expanding the economic corridors of the Mekong Basin. For its sectoral strategic and priority projects, the program has focused on establishing a smooth and sustainable transport system; developing cities, industrial clusters, energy, agriculture, tourism, ICT, and human resources; facilitating trade; and offering an ecosystem-based service for environmental protection.

After the inception of the GMS Program, many development projects, including the Mekong River Commission (MRC), the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation, and the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS), have been carried out. The GMS Program in particular has supported the quick development of the Mekong Economic Bloc through the improvement of the region’s economic corridors, special economic zones (SEZs), and logistical infrastructure, as well as through trade and investment facilitation. It has further promised to develop agriculture-based value chains, tourism, and the environment. ACMECS, led by Thailand, also focuses on infrastructure development. Over time, various initiatives supported by Japan, China, and the United States have become more active as well. And ASEAN, which has been deepening and expanding integration, has additionally leant active support to the area’s development, with the intention of accelerating integration to mitigate the development gap with more advanced ASEAN states. For these reasons, the economic future of the Mekong Basin is bright. These actions are due to the eager participation of international society and multinational companies, the region’s plentiful growth potential, and each government’s active policy commitments.

The dynamism and emergence of the Mekong Basin has not only rapidly changed the region’s economic and business environment but has also raised its strategic importance. Notably, the Mekong Basin is both located at an important point linking Northeast and South Asia and also serves as a market for nearly half (47%) of the world’s population.

The Mekong Basin carries a very important and special meaning for Korea, as well. First, it is becoming the best alternative to overcoming the growing risk of dependency on China or other specific countries. After all, the region has already emerged as Korea’s best partner in trade, investment, official development assistance (ODA), human exchange, and construction projects. Second, the Mekong Basin is important in light of Korea’s need to secure new growth engines. It is necessary to create more successful cases of cooperation such as with Viet Nam, which has been critical in bolstering Korea’s economic growth. At this time when low growth momentum is expected to persist as the rate of potential growth continues to decline against the backdrop of a low birthrate and aging population, the Mekong Basin may provide these crucial growth engines. Third, the Mekong Basin can be an important cooperative partner for the purpose of establishing permanent peace on the Korean peninsula. In addition to the fact that all Basin states have diplomatic relations with North Korea and actively support a peace settlement on the peninsula, their regime transformation and development experiences could serve as good models for North Korean reform and openness. This sentiment is echoed in the “Mekong-Han River Declaration for Establishing Partnership for People, Prosperity and Peace.” announced right after the first Korea-Mekong Summit concluded in Busan in November of 2019. At that time, the leaders of Korea and the Mekong Basin states promised to make efforts to realize permanent peace and the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, as well as economic development and prosperity of the Mekong Basin.

In this context, we can understand the important role of the ASEAN Culture House. Given that relations between the Mekong Basin and Korea, and more broadly, those between ASEAN and Korea, are based on mutual understanding and confidence, we can look forward to the strong activity of the ASEAN Culture House, a platform for international exchange.