Dr. Ly is the Chief River Basin Planner of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Secretariat. He plays a lead role in the formulation of basin development strategy and plan, joint projects and MRC procedures, and technically supervising the implementation of hydropower, navigation, socio-economics, agriculture and irrigation, climate change adaptation, and integrated water resources related activities.
Prior to this, he served as social science officer and socio-economic specialist of the MRC Secretariat from 2011 to 2016 where he contributed to the development of the Social Impact Monitoring and Vulnerability Assessment, and the Mekong Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan.
Before joining the MRC Secretariat, Dr Ly, a Cambodian national, held various positions at international and humanitarian organisations, including Oxfam America, United Nations Development Programme, Handicap International, and Concern Worldwide. He was also a researcher of the Center for Development Research of the University of Bonn in Germany. He has published a book entitled Planning the Lower Mekong Basin: Social Intervention on the Se San River, and a book chapter on Multi-scale Dimensions of Civil Society Action in a Transboundary Setting, in Southeast Asia and the Civil Society Gaze. Dr Ly holds a PhD degree in Political and Cultural Change from the University of Bonn and a Master of Development Planning and Management from the University of Dortmund in Germany. He obtains a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture from the Royal University of Agriculture in Cambodia.