(VOVworld) - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh has called for US engagement in dealing with water-energy-food relations through helping Mekong countries find effective ways to mitigate climate change. He made the call during the eighth Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) Ministers’ Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Wednesday, chaired by US Secretary of State John Kerry. Highlighting the need for cooperation in sustainable development with balanced relations among water-energy-food and infrastructure and reduced impacts on the environment and society, Minh proposed that in the next five years, the LMI should focus on building smart and high quality infrastructure. He said the LMI should encourage US investment and transfer of technology and technical solutions to solve environmental challenges and balance socioeconomic development in the sub-region. He also called for US support for the International Mekong Commission in improving research and technical capacity to enable harmonious, sustainable and comprehensive growth in the sub-region. Minh called for more projects to help the Mekong Delta provinces of Ben Tre, Soc Trang, and Tra Vinh respond to saline intrusion and drought. They agreed to organize the 9th LMI on the sidelines of the 49^th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Laos in 2016. A meeting of the LMI Working Group is slated for Vietnam later this year.