Mr Phetsamone Khanophet is Director of Environmental Management Division of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Secretariat.

Mr Khanophet oversees the Division in planning, executing, and managing the implementation of the MRC’s core river basin management functions, such as the routine environmental monitoring and the Core River Monitoring Network (CRMN) that covers analysis and assessment, and support on management planning. He also supervises the implementation of Strategy for Basin-Wide Environmental Management (SBEM), sustainable watersheds and wetlands management and conservation, transboundary fisheries management, and Transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment (TbEIA). He further oversights development of the new State of the Basin Report (SoBR), and the MRC’s assistance to the Member Countries on improved water quality and aquatic ecosystem in the Lower Mekong River Basin.

Prior to joining the MRC Secretariat, Mr Khanophet served as Director of Data and Information Division at the Lao National Mekong Committee Secretariat (LNMCS) in Vientiane. He has more than 18 years of experience in the field of sustainable, integrated water resources management (IWRM); hydrological regime and pattern monitoring and assessment; flood and drought management; climate change adaptation and impact assessment; land use/land cover; modelling; and data and information development and management. Not only has he been involved with technical cooperation, but he also shares his expertise and insights with MRC’s strategic planning.

Mr Khanophet holds a Master’s degree in Hydrology, with emphasis on Watershed Management, from the Indian Institute of Technology, in Roorkee, India; a graduate certificate on transboundary watershed management, rural development and integrated watershed management from Germany; and a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the National University of Laos.