Making the Gains of Mekong Cooperation Visible

By Thang Do

Regional cooperation in the Mekong is often discussed in terms of shared risks—droughts, floods, declining fisheries, salinity intrusion and growing geopolitical pressures. While these challenges are real, a stronger basis for cooperation may lie in making its benefits more visible.

A new analysis by Dr Thang Nam Do argues that cooperation remains limited because the economic gains of joint action are rarely quantified or integrated into national decision-making. Governments typically bear the immediate costs of cooperation, while many benefits are long-term, shared across borders, and difficult to measure.

The article proposes a "cooperation dividend" approach to quantify the difference between cooperative and non-cooperative pathways. This would help estimate avoided losses, reduced risks, and opportunities created through coordinated action, while also showing how benefits and costs are distributed across countries and sectors.

Such evidence could strengthen negotiations on issues including coordinated dam operations, flood and drought management, fisheries protection, and Mekong Delta resilience.

It could also help development partners better target regional investments and encourage greater alignment between national priorities and basin-wide outcomes.

Rather than framing the Mekong primarily through upstream–downstream tensions, the cooperation dividend highlights the value created when countries work together. Making these gains visible can provide a stronger evidence base for investment, negotiation and regional policymaking.

Read the full article in East Asia Forum: https://eastasiaforum.org/2026/07/04/making-the-gains-of-mekong-cooperation-visible/