16 February 2000
World Commission hosts Hanoi meeting on Large Dams in East/SouthEast Asia

HANOI, Vietnam -- For the first time in East and South East Asia governments, companies, NGOs, academics, and utilities involved in the debate over large dams will meet to discuss the economic, social, and environmental impacts of dams in the region. The World Commission on Dams will hold itsEast & South East Asia Regional Consultation on Dams on 26-27 February 2000 at the Meritus Westlake Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Countries included in WCD's call for submissions for the meeting were China, North and South Korea, Japan, Macau, Mongolia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, and Vietnam.

Those attending the meeting will debate the positive and negative impacts of dams in the East and South East Asia region. The Hanoi meeting is one of a series of regional consultations that will help the WCD prepare its final report, to be issued by mid-2000. Previous consultations were held in Sri Lanka in December 1998 for the South Asian region; in Brazil in August 1999 for Latin America; and in Cairo in December 1999 for the Africa/Middle East region.

An important debate

Of the estimated 800 000 dams around the world, approximately 45 000 are considered large (over 15 meters in height). Another 1 600 large dams are under construction worldwide in an industry whose annual turnover is estimated at $50 billion or more. Dams offer developmental and security benefits by providing irrigation, water supply, flood control and hydropower. However, dams and reservoirs also can mean the loss of plant, animal, and aquatic biodiversity, as well as having significant human impacts: an estimated four million people are displaced globally each year by dam projects.

From 1970 to 1979, 5 415 dams were built worldwide, doubling the number constructed in the 1950s. But the pace of dam building has fallen dramatically since the mid-1980s, due to concerns about the financial, social, and environmental impacts of dams, among other reasons.

Dams in East and South East Asia
The single busiest decade for dam building in East and South East Asia was 1971-1980 when 968 dams were commissioned. In the region there are 4 157 large dams registered with the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD), which sets dam engineering standards. Of that number, China has the most registered dams, 1 855, followed by Japan, 1 077, North Korea, 765, and Thailand, 204.

However, ICOLD statistics do not reflect the total population of large dams in the region. China is believed to have another 20 145 large unregistered dams; Vietnam has registered three dams with ICOLD but the International Hydropower Association estimates that country has at least 100 large dams.

The World Commission on Dams

The WCD was established in 1998 at the behest of pro- and anti-dam interests who wanted to break the stalemate that had developed between them regarding management and development of dams as a key aspect of water resource management. In 1997 they agreed to help set up an independent, non-partisan commission on dams that would conduct a global review of the development effectiveness of large dams; assess alternatives to dams; and establish criteria and guidelines for the assessment and implementation of future dam projects and their alternatives. It should be noted that the WCD does not have a mandate to intervene in or adjudicate current controversies over dams. The WCD's work will end with the publication of its final report in mid-2000.

For further information please visit the consultation page on our website at http://www.dams.org/
Or contact:
Nguyen Quoc Thang, media consultant, Hanoi, (84-4) 836 2374 e-mail: nqthang153@hotmail.com

Or:Kate Dunn, WCD Cape Town, South Africa. Ph: +27 21 426 4000; fax +27 21 426 0036
E-mail: kdunn@dams.org