Welcome to Mekong-Republic of Korea Cooperation Fund (MKCF)

The Han River Declaration, adopted at the meeting in 2011, established a comprehensive partnership between the Mekong countries and the Republic of Korea (ROK) aimed at promoting common prosperity, regional cooperation, and development. Within this context, priority was given to three key areas of cooperation: ASEAN connectivity, sustainable development, and development for the people. The ROK Government committed to increasing official development assistance (ODA) to the ASEAN member states, with a primary focus on the Mekong countries.

Following the launch of the Mekong-ROK partnership in 2011, the Mekong–ROK Cooperation Fund (MKCF) was established in 2013 to support development projects in five Mekong countries: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Viet Nam, and Thailand (CLMVT). Up until 2020, MKCF prioritized six sectors: (1) infrastructure, (2) information and communications technology, (3) green growth, (4) water resource development, (5) agriculture and rural development, and (6) human resource development.

Annual contributions to the Mekong countries are managed through the Mekong Institute (MI), in accordance with the Terms of Reference (ToR) adopted at the 3rd Mekong–ROK Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in July 2013 in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam, and the 5th Mekong–ROK Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in August 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

As outlined in the Mekong–ROK Action Plan 2021–2025, the priority sectors have been updated to the following: (1) Culture and Tourism, (2) Human Resources Development, (3) Agriculture and Rural Development, (4) Infrastructure, (5) Information and Communications Technology, (6) Environment, and (7) Non-traditional Security Challenges.