Xayaburi dam discussed widely

FFRC organized a mini-seminar called ”Large-scale Dams and Energy Development in the Mekong Region” on Monday April 2nd in Tampere. Dr. Jyrki Luukkanen gave an introduction to the event and FFRC’s work in the Mekong Region. Following, Mr. Kirk Herbertson from the NGO International Rivers gave a talk on dam development focusing on the the anatomy of the mainstream Xayaburi dam. The event ended with an open discussion on the future of energy development in the region at large.

The topic of Xayaburi dam was also discussed at a seminar organized by Siemenpuu Foundation on April 3rd in Helsinki titled ”Development Policy and the Corporate Social Responsibility in the Mekong: Finland, Pöyry Corporation and Xayaburi dam project”. The seminar included presentations from Marko Keskinen, a water researcher at Aalto University; Mika Pohjonen, representative of Pöyry; Kirk Herberston from the NGO International Rivers; Pekka Puustinen from the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Mira Käkönen, chair of Siemenpuu Foundation and Otto Bruun from Friends of the Earth. The presentations can be downloaded from: http://www.siemenpuu.org/english/mekong_in_finland/

The event by Siemenpuu Foundation was covered by the Finnish national public broadcasting company, Yle. The event was covered in the evening news. The reportage (in Finnish) can be found from http://areena.yle.fi/video/1333477022501 at 09.42 minutes.