On November 7, 2017, Mr. Sommad Pholsena, Laos’ Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, visited IWHR leading a delegation of 7 for water resources and hydropower cooperation with China.

Accompanied by the representatives from the Ministry of Water Resources of China, Laos’ delegation was warmly welcomed by IWHR President Kuang Shangfu and the chiefs and experts of relevant departments and enterprises.

Kuang greeted the Minister and his delegation with great hospitality, saying that the Laos DPR and China are friendly neighbors linked by rivers and mountains, and Laos is an important participant and support to the Belt and Road Initiative and has already built close cooperation and exchange with China. IWHR has established practical collaboration with Laos by participating in a series of water and hydropower projects, including the automatic control system of hydropower stations, engineering consultancy for CFRDs, comprehensive planning for irrigation areas and water resources, project safety evaluations, and by providing a number of training programs on river basin management. Availing the great opportunity of the Minister’s visit, IWHR hopes to further strengthen the cooperation with Laos in the relevant fields focusing on the Belt and Road Initiative to make new contributions to the joint progress of the two countries.

Minister Sommad Pholsena thanked the IWHR, the first stop of his China visit, for its warm reception. He briefed the audience upon the basic information about the Laos’ Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, stressing the importance of water to the humanity and hydropower to the socio-economic development. Calling Laos and China a community of shared destiny as the two nations share the same river, the Minister expects IWHR to make use of its technical and expert advantages in assisting Laos to boost its development, construction, operation and management of water resources and hydropower as the two nations pursue a win-win cooperation.

IWHR experts also introduced the research of the institute in flood control and disaster mitigation and special products such as hydraulic elevated dam and automatic control system for hydropower stations. The two parties had further discussions on human resources training and technical support in water resources and hydropower sectors.