the MRC faces multiple, and often more lucrative, competitors in the project arena. Governance The MRC is governed by its four member countries through the Joint Committee and the Council. Members of the Joint Committee are usually senior civil servants heading government departments. There is one member from each country. The Joint Committee meets two to three times a year to approve budgets and strategic plans. Members of the Council are cabinet ministers. The Council meets once a year. Technical and administrative support is provided by the MRC Secretariat. The secretariat is based in Vientiane, Laos, with over 120 staff including scientists, administrators, and technical staff. A chief executive officer manages the secretariat. In April 2010, the Mekong River Commission convened a summit in Hua Hin, Thailand. All six riparian nations were in attendance, including China, Burma (Myanmar), Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Leadership From its conception until 1995 the organization was under the leadership of an "executive agent". Since then it has had CEO's. C. Hart Schaaf, Executive Agent, 1959 – November 1969 Willem van der Oord, Executive Agent, December 1969 – June 1980 Bernt Bernander, Executive Agent, July 1980 – 1983 Galal Magdi, Executive Agent, 1983 – 1987 Chuck Lankester, Executive Agent, 1988 – 1990 Jan Kamp, Executive Agent, 1990 – 1995 Yasunobu Matoba, CEO, 1995 – August 1999 Jörn Kristensen, CEO, October 1999 – 2004 Olivier Cogels, CEO, July 2004 – 2007 Jeremy Bird, CEO, 2008 – 2010 Hans Guttman, CEO, 2011 Pham Tuan Phan, CEO 2016-2018 An Pich Hatda, CEO, 2019 - Relations with the People's Republic of China and Burma The Mekong River Commission and its predecessors have never included PR China (which was not a member of the United Nations in 1957) or Burma (which does not significantly rely on or tap the Mekong), whose territory contains the upper Basin of the Mekong. Part of a joint initiative by the US agency for International Development (USAID) and NASA, SERVIR Mekong project, with five countries, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam including Myanmar which aims to tap into the latest technologies to help the Mekong River region protect its vital ecosystem. Although China contributes only 16–18 percent of the Mekong's overall water volume, the glacial melt waters of the Tibetan plateau take on increasing importance during the dry season. The ability of upstream nations to undermine downstream cooperation was perhaps best symbolized by an April 1995