Development in diverse areas including agriculture, environment, infrastructure, logistics/transportation, and tourism has been a continuous and consistent feature along the regions surrounding the Mekong River. In case of the Greater Mekong Subregion project undertaken by the Asian Development Bank(ADB), the initial concentration of investment in infrastructure is being superseded by increasing focus on the ‘software’ aspect of development, namely efforts at facilitating trade and investment. The projects supervised by the Mekong River Commission focuses on agriculture, management of water resources, and flood control, while also looking into different aspects related to construction of dams for hydropower and its significance for agriculture and the environment.
The Mekong Institute is also an important player in the region’s development, as it oversees projects in human development, and extending the work in this area into various consulting projects. The efforts by the ASEAN-Mekong Basin Development Cooperation(AMBDC) places greater focus on such areas as infrastructure, and logistics/transportation. However, progress has been slower than ADB projects given the comparative lack of funds available to the AMBDC compared to the ADB.
The focus of the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy(ACMECS), headed by Thailand, is on agriculture, infrastructure, and tourism; based on sector cooperation between countries in the region and sustainable development. The level of cooperation in the region is expected to increase with the election of Yinglak Shinawatra as prime minister of Thailand. Also, the ASEAN economic community, which will be implemented by 2015, is expected to offer continued support for the region’s underdeveloped countries (CLMV) in various areas.
The strategies for each country as revealed in the research can be outlined as follows.
Thailand, under the leadership of its PM Thaksin, has sought to secure regional leadership while pursuing its economic and security interests through the ACMECS. It has become the unquestioned locus of development in the Mekong region in terms of its historical relations with its neighbors, geographical location, trade, investment, and economic cooperation.
Cambodia has given priority to growth, employment, equality, and efficiency through its ‘Rectangular Strategy’; with particular focus on management of water resources and irrigation, with emphasis on growth and efficiency.
Laos is engaged in project in development in water resources with aims of extricating itself from its status as a least-developed country by 2020. Its approach to the Mekong region development is strategic, as it seeks to maintain sovereignty and autonomy in the region against obvious geopolitical disadvantages as a weak power. It has maintained a strategy based on multilateralism and  regional balance in the development of hydropower, and made some notable accomplishments such as bringing the MRC headquarters to Laos.
Korea has hosted the 1st Korea-Mekong Foreign Ministers meeting in October 2011, and concluded it with the「Han-River Declaration」of Establishing the Mekong-ROK Comprehensive Partnership for Mutual Prosperity, indicating that Korea would take active part in the development of the Mekong region in the future. Given strategies employed by Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos; Korea will do better to employ the Triangular Cooperation formula, utilizing Thailand when engaging in development cooperation projects involving Laos or Myanmar. In addition, highlighting the role of Tonle Sap River in Cambodia and research for possible advantages it can offer for development cooperation in the Mekong Region will be important. It is also necessary to examine projects that Korean companies can actually undertake through detailed and accurate analysis of water resource/hydropower development in the Mekong. Last but not least, it might be necessary to make the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) scheduled to be held in Vientiane, Laos a forum where measures for active participation in water resources/hydropower could be devised.