E China college water resources program enriches Lancang-Mekong cooperation

Theerapon Thammahora, an official from the water resources ministry in Thailand, speaks at the opening ceremony at Hohai University on Oct 20. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Thammahora is among 31 officials from the Mekong region of Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos beginning their studies on the special program. Their three years at HHU will be supported by the "Belt and Road" scholarship, an extra supplement to the existing Chinese Government Scholarship that annually sponsors no less than 3,000 students from Belt and Road countries.

The students will engage in HHU's traditional characteristic majors of Hydrology and Water Resources, Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering, and Harbor, Coastal and Offshore Engineering, and learn advanced technologies in the areas of water resources management, hydraulic engineering, and flood prevention.

The hope is that the officials will be able to learn the most down-to-earth and direct solutions to tackling the huge water shortage and flooding challenges facing the regions around the Lancang, a river which flows 5,000 kilometers from the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau out of China and through Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia, where it is known as the Mekong.