Online Forum on the Decision Support System Tool (March 28-29, 2022)

Phnom Penh: Cambodia National Mekong Committee (CNMC), an Online Forum was held on the Decision Support System Tool developed under the Mekong Integrated Water Resources Management Project Phase II. 3 (MIWRMP3) Component 2 on Water Resources Management in the Northeast of Cambodia. His Excellency Te Navuth, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Cambodia National Mekong Committee and Director of MIWRMP3 Project, chaired the Forum, participated by project implementation officers (national and sub-national), representatives of relevant ministries, institutions, educational institutions, NGOs, and representatives of development partners, including the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. His Excellency Te Navuth, Permanent Vice Chairman of CNMC, on behalf of HE Lim Kean Hor, Minister of Water Resources and Meteorology and Chairman of the CNMC, addressed the importance of the Forum, which will provide feedback on the understanding of the importance and use of DSS in the water and related resources management, development and planning water resources and river basins as well as gain experience from stakeholders. His Excellency stated that with the encouragement and support of the leadership, the implementation of the project so far has been noted as a success and praised the development of DSS by DHI Advisors Denmark and eWater Australia for their participation in the building this model and equipment. His Excellency further informed me about the project implementation efforts under the World Bank (WB) financing and the technical assistance of the WB team, which has always been helpful.

The forum listened intently to the speakers, giving a brief presentation on the DSS format and each component, including the data information system, knowledge base, implementation model, and data usage and connection planning tools, data acquisition from the automatic stations. A presentation on the DSS website was presented until the results of the DSS and its reports are being submitted to management for review and decision-making.

As a result, the forum received constructive feedback for the CNMC to continue to carry out future work, such as the establishment of the DSS unit, which plays an important role in the execution and maintenance of model and DSS tools and planning work, which requires professional officers in charge. Continue to ask for DHI Advisors to handle matters such as ensuring that there is a data quality check software (QA/QC) in case of any mistakes at the stations. The World Bank representatives provided feedback with a number of suggestions in collaboration with the DHI Advisory Team, strengthening the capacity of the team and continuing to ensure that the DSS is well operational and updated. In the closing remarks, the HE Chairman of the Forum thanked all the participants for participating in the forum and evaluated the acceptable results of the Forum and all the comments were appropriate, reflecting the facts and the challenges and difficulties that will be encountered after the project implementation.

His Excellency requested the project team to continue to pursue the will to implement the project to use their skills to become a master of each function, HE further encouraged.