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

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

Participants will discusscollaboration in public health, connectivity, education, environment andwater, agriculture and food security, and energy security.

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

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

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

TheLMI framework was established to reduce the development gap among theASEAN countries in order to facilitate the implementation of the ASEANCommunity's integration.-VNA