P-LINK Thai Pilot Facility Handover Ceremony: 

P-LINK Thai Pilot Facility Handover Ceremony: New Opportunities and Innovation through South-South and Triangular Cooperation (in Commemoration of the UN Day for South-South Cooperation 2025) 

• When: Thursday, 11 September 2025; 9:30 hrs – 12:00 hrs (UTC/Indochina)  
•  Venue: Bung Khla, Bueng Kan Province, Thailand  

Background 

P-LINK Thai Pilot Facility Handover Ceremony 

The Triangular Cooperation Project on Sustainable Development in the Lower Mekong River Basin based on the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus (2021–2025), also known as the RoK-UNOSSC Facility (Phase 3)/P-LINK, aims to enhance access to water, food, and energy for vulnerable communities in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) of the Republic of Korea and directly led by the UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), the project applies integrated, demand-driven solutions through South-South and triangular cooperation. Key partners include the Mekong River Commission, Mekong Institute, the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI), and Korean innovative technology providers such as Wi.Plat in Thailand.  

The Thai pilot project titled “Increasing the Efficiency of Tap Water System in Moo 1, 2, and 3, Bung Khla Sub-district, Bueng Kan Province” focuses on strengthening local water access, benefiting 943 households (2,365 people) in a rural, agriculture-based community along the Mekong River. Since its official launch in July 2024, the pilot has significantly enhanced water service reliability and quality through the deployment of smart technologies developed by Wi.Plat, including AI-powered leak detection, digital billing, and cloud-based monitoring systems, supported by a newly established water quality monitoring room at the Bung Khla Subdistrict Administrative Office (SAO). Local operators and government staff received hands-on training in system installation, water quality testing, and data-driven operations, fostering strong community ownership and more responsive service delivery. For example, each detected leak has helped reduce daily water loss by approximately 24m³, while the mobile billing application has streamlined operations and improved accuracy—demonstrating an innovative public-private partnership modality in action.

The pilot now strives to serve as a centre of excellence and a scalable model for smart water management across the Mekong region. Thailand has already begun sharing its experiences with other P-LINK pilot communities, regional stakeholders, and development partners through multi-sectoral forums and WEF Nexus training sessions. Moving forward, it aims to continue this knowledge exchange with other communities in Thailand and beyond, fostering South-South and triangular cooperation. 

As the P-LINK initiative approaches completion in December 2025, the Thai pilot is ready to be officially handed over to Thai stakeholders—including national, local, and community actors—who have demonstrated strong ownership and accountability throughout its design and implementation, in line with the spirit of South-South cooperation. In recognition of this important milestone, an official facility handover ceremony will be held to celebrate achievements and formally mark the transition.  

In addition to policymakers, civil servants, technical experts, and practitioners, the handover ceremony will actively engage local community members—particularly children and youth—to explore how community-driven science and technology innovation can improve livelihoods through partnership and collaboration. A drawing and writing contest titled “How Technology and Innovation Changed My Community and Me: The Future I Long For” will be organized in the lead-up to the ceremony. The top three entries will be awarded, and all participants will be formally acknowledged for their contributions. The initiative aims to inspire creativity, raise awareness, and encourage the next generation to imagine and pursue future careers shaped by innovation and cooperation. (Contest guidelines and assessment criteria will be shared in a separate document.) 

Commemoration of the UN Day for South-South Cooperation 2025 

The United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation, observed annually on 12 September, commemorates the 1978 adoption of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action—a foundational framework for technical cooperation among developing countries. In 2025, the Day is marked under the theme “New Opportunities and Innovation through South-South and Triangular Cooperation,” emphasizing the Global South’s growing leadership in addressing shared development challenges through context-driven, scalable solutions. 

 As part of this year’s commemoration, the P-LINK Thai Pilot Facility Handover Ceremony highlights the transformative power of South-South and triangular cooperation in delivering innovative, community-based water solutions. It stands as a tangible example of how local ownership, knowledge sharing, and collaborative innovation can contribute to accelerating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals in the Mekong region and beyond.

Objectives 

The P-LINK Thai Pilot Facility Handover Ceremony aims to: 

• Celebrate the successful completion and transition of the Thai pilot project to national, local, and community stakeholders, recognizing their ownership, leadership, and contribution throughout the initiative. 
• Highlight the achievements and innovations of the Thai pilot project in enhancing community water access through smart technologies and public-private partnerships. 
• Commemorate the UN Day for South-South Cooperation 2025 by showcasing a concrete example of South-South and triangular cooperation in action within the Mekong region. 
• Foster knowledge sharing and regional collaboration by promoting the Thai pilot as a replicable model for smart, community-driven water management. 
• Engage and inspire youth and community members to understand the role of science, technology, and innovation in transforming their communities, and to explore future career pathways shaped by cooperation and innovation.

Expected Outcomes 

At the end of the event, it is expected that: 

• The Thai pilot facility is formally handed over to relevant Thai stakeholders with reinforced commitment to sustain and scale up its outcomes. 
•  Stakeholders have a deeper understanding of the pilot’s technical innovations, operational impacts, and public-private partnership model. 
• The pilot is recognized as a successful example of South-South and triangular cooperation, contributing to the visibility of the broader P-LINK initiative and the UNOSSC partnership with the Republic of Korea. 
• Opportunities for future collaboration and knowledge exchange are identified among regional and national stakeholders. 
•  Youth participants are inspired through the drawing and drawing and digital content (shorts) contest, fostering greater community awareness of the role of innovation and cooperation in sustainable development. 

Participants 

Invited participants from:  

• P-LINK project stakeholders 
• Government and development cooperation participants  
• Academia, policy experts  
• UN agencies, international and regional organizations  
• Civil society  
• Private sector