Regional coordination mechanisms – lessons learned from the Netherlands, relevant for the Mekong Delta in Vietnam As in many deltas around the world, the integrated approach, the horizontal and vertical cooperation, and coordination are major challenges. Over the last years, Vietnam has taken several steps to improve and facilitate governance of their Mekong Delta. At present, there are about 20 sector master plans prepared by various line ministries related to the socio-economic developments in Mekong Delta which provide the orientations for sectoral developments in short, medium and long runs. The Netherlands has struggled for decades with similar problems and issues.This project aimed to analyse the Dutch experiences with regional coordination mechanisms to provide insights and lessons learned to improve the governance in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, and hopefully prevent them from making the same mistakes as the Netherlands did. The project gave an overview of relevant characteristics of effective Dutch regional coordination mechanisms that are useful for improving governance in the Mekong Delta with the clients and other relevant stakeholders.Summary of Dutch lessons learned relevant for regional coordination in the Mekong Delta• Long-term strategic thinking; • Keeping an adaptive delta management approach in mind in decision-making. • Aligning national, regional, and local knowledge, goals, and planning. • Making agreements on an administrative level, such as the MIRT decision-making system. • Working more intersectoral on the regional level and acknowledging the national organization as well. • Join forces on a regional scale, and develop regional decision-making processes, using principles of co-governance. • Working theme-oriented includes multi-governmental collaboration and stakeholder inclusion. There is always a trade-off between being inclusive and planning on time. • Co-governance has been successful in theme-oriented programs. • One party must take the lead by being end-responsible. • Framing a project or program in such a way that people would like it to be involved increases stakeholder ownership and responsibility of the project/program. • Transparency decreases the risk in misunderstandings between stakeholders and increases alignment. • Cross-border programs requires shared responsibility and an equal division of resources and power in decision-making. • Developing and sustaining alliances is key for successful Delta collaboration. • Collaborating in financing between stakeholders increases feasibility of a project/program, and improves stakeholder involvement • Large national programs require an initiative role of the national government, including financing • Financial collaboration between different governmental organizations on a central theme could be enhanced by developing an overarching fund, such as the Delta Fund. • Involve private financing as well, e.g. through the Triple Helix Model. • The polluter pays principle could be implemented on a regional level as well, e.g. by a dedicated water tax system such as the regional water boards in the Netherlands have. • Utilizing and organizing co-benefits in financing projects/programs increases efficiency of the investment • Some funding options require judiciary changes (e.g. a water tax system). This takes time. • A well-defined scope makes a project/program more manageable. • Making stakeholders responsible for knowledge development prevents ‘hiding behind the facts’ • Transparent knowledge sharing increases capacity building of all involved stakeholders.This assignment was financed by the Government of the Netherlands through the Partners for Water program for international collaboration.This project is conducted in cooperation with: World Bank Vietnam.