Mr. Kishida Fumio
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Japanese Government
January 14, 2013
Re: Large dams constructed along the Mekong River and their negative impacts on 60
million people: The Japanese Government should play a proactive role in MRC meetings
on January 16 and 17, 2013
Dear Mr. Kishida,
We wish you a very happy new year for 2013 and would like to take this opportunity tocongratulate you on your appointment as the new Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Japanese
Government.
We are NGO staff, academics, and journalists from various countries concerned about theconstruction of large-scale hydropower dams along the mainstream of the Mekong River, whichruns through China, Burma/Myanmar, the Lao PDR, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The
4,900 kilometer Mekong River, as a ground for the world’s largest fresh-water fish catch,especially in Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake, and a source of nutrition-rich sediments to support
agriculture, especially in Vietnam’s Delta, is an extremely important source of food and incomefor 60 million people, especially the socially vulnerable, living in the river basin. To thesepeople, changes in the river flow regime and ecosystems, most typically caused by largehydropower dams, seriously affect their life.
Currently, up to 11 mainstream dams are being planned with some dams in preparatory stages
and/or under construction, most notably the Xayaburi Dam in northern Lao PDR. At theinter-governmental Mekong River Commission (MRC), of which the Japanese Government is a
development partner, the four member governments have been discussing the Xayaburi Dam
according to MRC’s Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation, and Agreement (PNPCA).
The Governments of Cambodia and Vietnam expressed particularly strong concerns. The 2010
MRC-commissioned Strategic Environmental Assessment of Hydropower on the Mekong
Mainstream report, drawing upon among others the devastating trans-boundary environmental
and social impacts, has recommended that no mainstream dams should proceed for the next 10years until further assessments have been made. In December 2011, the four governments,
including the Lao PDR, agreed to carry out further study on the mainstream dams and ask

development partners, especially the Japanese Government, to fund the study. However, notmuch progress has been made on this and to date, only a concept note has been agreed upon bythe MRC Governments.
On December 14, 2012, we met two representatives from your Ministry – Mr. Shiota Takahiro,Deputy Director of First Southeast Asia Division and Mr. Kuroishi Ryo, Deputy Director ofCountry Assistance Planning Division 1 and Development Assistance Policy Coordination
Division – at a public seminar at the House of Councilors Members’ Office Building, National
Diet of Japan in Tokyo, which your Ministry kindly co-sponsored, to discuss most of the issues
we have laid out above. As the next MRC Council meeting is scheduled to be held on January
16 and 17, 2013 in the Lao PDR, we wanted to send this letter to highlight the major points that
we raised at the seminar and urge the Japanese Government to take a more proactive role on
issues relating to the Mekong mainstream dams and for the upcoming MRC meeting inparticular:
1) Large-scale hydropower dams devastate people’s life. We have witnessed many cases allover the world, especially in the Mekong where so many people’s lives and livelihoods
depend on the river and natural resources it can provide;2) When dams’ impacts are trans-boundary, they complicate the matter. Consequently, affectedpeople, often the most vulnerable, end up unfairly shouldering the risks and costs ofnegative impacts, as most typically seen in the case of the Sesan-Sekong-Srepok (3S) River
Basins in northeastern Cambodia. Effective mechanisms to address trans-boundary impactsof dams have yet to be developed in the Mekong;3) Mekong countries still face challenges in terms of effective public participation, thefreedom of expression, and accountability of governments and developers, which are allindispensible in decision-making processes on large infrastructure projects such as theMekong mainstream dams. MRC’s PNPCA has proven to be ineffective, especially toreflect affected communities’ voices in decision-making processes. No further Mekong
mainstream dam project should be allowed to undergo the PNPCA process, until afour-country review of the process is carried out, with the participation of affected people
and civil society in the region;4) Alternative energy plans have been extensively discussed in countries such as Thailand,
which would import much of the electricity produced by the planned mainstream dams.
Independent analysis has shown that the government plans often overestimate future
demand and that future needs can be met without building any of the mainstream dams andby adopting viable energy alternatives, such as demand-side management and renewableevery sources;
5) Design features and modifications, such as fish passages and “transparent” dam, areproposed by the Government of Lao PDR to mitigate the Xayaburi Dam’s negative impacts.
However, these technologies are not well-tested and/or have in fact proven to be ineffectivein the Mekong, as seen most typically in the case of the World Bank-funded Pak Mun Dam
in northeastern Thailand. The Xayaburi Dam, with its potential devastating impacts, should
not become a testing ground for these new technologies;
6) The Japanese Government should fund the proposed MRC study, only if a) meaningful
public consultation and participation is ensured; b) the study aids the regional
decision-making on the mainstream dams; and c) no other dams enter PNPCA until thestudy is completed; and7) The Lao Government held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Xayaburi Dam despite a lackof regional agreement and without conducting a trans-boundary impact assessment on theproject as requested by the Cambodian and Vietnamese Governments at the MRC's Joint
Committee Meeting on the Xayaburi Dam in April 2011. The Japanese Government should
call for the Government of Lao PDR to uphold its obligations to negotiate in good faith in
the Xayaburi Dam's PNPCA process, by immediately halting construction on the XayaburiDam, until a trans-boundary impact assessment is carried out for the project and the fourgovernments have reached agreement on whether to build the dam.
We would be more than happy to provide you with more information on these issues. Please feel
free to let us know.
Sincerely yours,

Participants at the December 14, 2012 public seminar in Tokyo, Japan:-Channarong Wongla (Tuk), Northeast Community Network in 7 Provinces of Mekong River
Basin, Thailand;-Kanokwan Manorom, Ubon Ratchathani University, Thailand;-Niwat Rongkaew (Khru Tee), Natural Resources and Culture Conservation Network in
Mekong-Lanna River Basin, Thailand;-Sor Rattanamanee Polka, Community Resource Centre, Thailand;-Meach Mean, Sesan-Sekong-Srepok River Protection Network (3SPN), Cambodia;-Souket Nen, Sesan-Sekong-Srepok River Protection Network (3SPN), Cambodia;-Le Anh Tuan, Research Institute for Climate Change (DRAGON Institute - Mekong) - Can

Tho University, Vietnam;-Cho Boyoung, Energy and Climate Policy Institute for Just Transition (ECPI), Korea;-Eom Eun Hui, Energy and Climate Policy Institute for Just Transition (ECPI), Korea;-Kim Woori, ODA Watch, Korea;-Yun Jiyoung, ODA Watch, Korea;-Ame Trandem, International Rivers, USA;

-Michael Simon, Oxfam Australia, Australia;-Doi Toshiyuki, Mekong Watch, Japan;-Higashi Satomi, Mekong Watch, Japan;-Kiguchi Yuka, Mekong Watch, Japan;-Mitsuta Kanna, Mekong Watch, Japan; and-Takahashi Fumiko, Mekong Watch, Japan.

CC: Mr. Shiota Takahiro, Deputy Director of First Southeast Asia Division; andMr. Kuroishi Ryo, Deputy Director of Country Assistance Planning Division 1 andDevelopment Assistance Policy Coordination Division.