what is most surprising is the restrained nature of public statements by Vietnam in relation to the Lao and Cambodia dams. At the Second Mekong River Commission Summit held in Ho Chi Minh City last year Vietnamese officials, including the prime minister, spoke critically of the actions of the Lao government. But there has been remarkably little by way of follow-up. Indeed, in recent talks between the Vietnamese and Lao governments, the issue of the Mekong was treated in a very restrained manner. On the one hand, the Vietnamese prime minister said his country 'supported Laos in developing hydropower on the Mekong river for socio-economic development, but he went on to qualify this by saying that if the construction of hydropower dams on the Mekong River's mainstream has great impact on the environment and people's live, then we should not do it.