The potential impacts of hydroelectric power projects to be built on the main streams of the Mekong River were assessed at a seminar in Hanoi on November 10.
Head of the International Relations Department of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations (VUSTA) Phan Anh Son said VUSTA will collect scientific data on the impacts of these projects in terms of economics, environment, aquatic resources, agriculture and land.

He said the union will organise a seminar in Ho Chi Minh City on November 23 to collect scientists’ opinions on the construction of hydroelectric dams.

The 4,800-km long Mekong river has more than 30 tributaries across Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam in the Mekong subregion. More than 75 percent of the population in the river basin live on agricultural cultivation, aquatic exploitation and forests.

VNA