To help cultivate experts in agricultural development in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, for five years up to FY 1995 The Sasakawa Southeast Asia Cooperation Fund administered a scholarship program through which a total of 43 students completed a master's degree course in rural development management at Khon Kaen University in Thailand. The present seminar project was conducted as a follow-up evaluation of the scholarship program. It set and achieved four objectives: to study the current state of rural development in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam; to assess the contribution made by the Khon Kaen University master's program to the advancement of rural development management in those countries; to bring together graduates of the degree program and rural development experts and policy makers of the Mekong River region to discuss the future of rural development in the area; and to create a network of such specialists in the region through the degree program alumni.
The seminar was held in Khon Kaen for four days beginning on 2 December 1996. The principal speakers were rural development experts from the five countries mentioned above and students in the master's degree program. After the seminar, the students held a further meeting to discuss possible future activities of the alumni, and it is hoped that this initiative will mature into concrete action soon.