An official lunch with the partners of decentralized cooperation between the Centre-Val de Loire Region and the Province of Luang Prabang was held in Orléans on 9 October in the presence of the President of the Region, François Bonneau, and a Laotian delegation led by the Provincial Vice-Governor, Mrs Siriphone Souphanthong. The meeting was organised as part of a study tour by the provincial authorities on wetland management.

The partners, including Association Confluence represented by its treasurer and co-founder, Pierre Guedant, reviewed and discussed the results of this cooperation, which has been promoting the concerted management of natural resources in each of the two territories since 2005. The Centre-Val de Loire Region and the Province of Luang Prabang, which are crossed by major rivers, share common challenges such as the integrated water resource management and wetlands protection.

For the past 15 years, Confluence, main operator of the Centre-Val de Loire Region in Laos, has been working on improving access to water for rural communities of Luang Prabang province. The most recent project, DEAR Water II, implemented with the support of GRET and Université de Tours, promotes integrated water resource management to secure access to water in rural areas.