Mississippi-Mekong 'sister rivers' mulled

A PROPOSAL to make the Mississippi and Mekong "sister rivers" has won the support of US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and her counterparts from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, officials said yesterday. Clinton met the foreign ministers of the four countries along the lower Mekong River Thursday at the tail end of a Southeast Asian foreign ministers meeting held this week on Phuket, a Thai island 600 kilometres south of Bangkok.

"The ministers welcomed, in particular, the initiative of the Mekong River Commission and the Mississippi River Commission to pursue a 'sister river' partnership to share expertise and best practices in areas such as climate change adaptation, flood and drought management, hydropower and impact assessment, water demand and food security, water resource management and other common concerns," a US press release said.

Clinton arrived in Phuket Wednesday to attend the ASEAN main security event. DPA