Background The Mekong River Commission (MRC) Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)-based Basin Development Strategy (BDS) was firstly developed in 2011 with a five-year planning cycle for 2011- 2015, followed by the updated BDS 2016-2020. The BDS is a statement of the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) countries setting out how they will utilize, manage and conserve the water and related resources of the Mekong in line with the Agreement on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin (the 1995 Mekong Agreement). It provides regional perspectives for development opportunities and management of the basin. It also responds to the goals, objectives and underlying principles of the 1995 Mekong Agreement. The BDS is an instrument for basin planning and coope