Mekong River dams could slice 0.3 pct off Vietnam’s GDP: report
Hydropower dams on the Mekong River are expected to reduce Vietnam’s GDP by 0.3 percentage points due to their impact on fisheries and agriculture.
A paper titled “Impacts of Mainstream Hydropower Dams on Fisheries and Agriculture in Lower Mekong Basin” on the open access journal Sustainability published by Switzerland’s Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute on March 19 said hydropower dam construction could cause great losses to biodiversity, fisheries and agriculture in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB).
Specifically, the dams could impact Vietnam’s fish population, as well as rice and maize production, which would contribute to a 0.3 percent loss in GDP.
Construction of dams would also increase the vulnerability of communities dependent on fisheries for income and nutrition in Vietnam.
Phan Anh
