Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

A document to this effect was signed in Vientiane, Laos, on Friday between representatives from the Japanese government and Mekong River Commission (MRC). The funding will be allocated in four years from 2020–2023. It is to transform the MRC’s Regional Flood and Drought Management Centre (RFDMC) in Phnom Penh into a centre of excellence in providing faster and more accurate flood and drought forecasting and early warning to the lower Mekong countries – Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.