401 



and (4) a series of actions to strengthen the economies of the Riparian 

 States (without mentioning Cambodia) and to deal constructively 

 with "disease and hunger and illiteracy." 



THE NAM NGTJM DAM 



In a special message to Congress, June 1, 1965, requesting a supple- 

 mental $89 million of foreign aid "for expanded programs of economic 

 and social development in Southeast Asia," the President indicated 

 that — 



Approximately $19 million will provide the first installment of our contribution 

 to the accelerated development of the Mekong River Basin. This is an important 

 part of the general program of regional development which I outlined at Johns 

 Hopkins University on April 7. This money will enable us to meet a request for 

 half the cost of building the Nam Ngum Dam. which the international Mekong 

 Committee has marked "Top Priority" if the Mekong River is to be put to work 

 for the people of the region. This will be the first Mekong power project to serve 

 two countries, promising power to small industry and lights for thousands of 

 homes in northeast Thailand and Laos. The funds will provide also for — power- 

 lines across the Mekong, linking Laos and Thailand ; extensive studies of further 

 hydroelectric, irrigation, and flood control projects on the Mekong main stream 

 and its tributaries ; and expansion of distribution lines in Laos. 48 



This dam was proposed for power and irrigation, across the Nam 

 N>um tributary of the Mekong some 50 miles north of Vientiane. 

 Amonqr the many actions taken by the Johnson administration at 

 mid-1965 was a request to the Edison Electric Institute to undertake a 

 power market survey in this part of the Mekong region. The pre- 

 engineering work on the unit, like the subsequent construction, was 

 characteristically performed in separate segments contributed by 

 various nations or the U.N. or other institutions. Thus, the original 

 site selection had resulted from an earlier survey of tributaries, con- 

 ducted by the Japanese Government. An experimental farm to serve 

 the nlain irrigated with water from the dam was being managed by a 

 combined Laos-Israel team, under a bilateral agreement. Feasibility 

 investigations for the dam were made bv the Nippon Koei Company, 

 financed partly from the U.N. Special Fund and partly by Japan 

 under a bilateral economic and technical cooperation agreement be- 

 tween Laos and Japan. 



Although the U.S. Congress acted promptly to grant the Presi- 

 dent's request for funds for the project, it was not until May 4, 1966 

 that all the financial preliminaries were completed — culminating in 

 the Nam Ngum Development Fund Agreement. This agreement in- 

 volved the recipient nations, Laos and Thailand, and the donor na- 

 tions — Australia, Canada, Denmark, Japan, Netherlands, New Zea- 

 land, Thailand, and the United States, plus the World Bank. Funds 

 were to be provided in the form of grants to the extent of $22.8 mil- 

 lion, to be administered by the World Bank. Principal contributors 

 were the United States ($12 million), Japan ($4 million), Nether- 

 lands ($3.3 million) and Canada ($2 million). Thailand donated $1 

 million in cement. 



The Nam Ngum unit is of impressive size. The dam is 707 feet high, 

 and 1,541 feet in span. Its reservoir will impound 8 billion cubic meters 



49 Lyndon B. Johnson. "Sneclal Message to the Congress on the Need for Additional 

 Foreign Aid Funds for Southeast Asia," June 1965. Public Pavers of the President of the 

 United States (Washington, D.C. : U.S. Government Printing Office, 1966), p. 607. 



