Dr. Thim Ly is a regional water policy and planning expert of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Secretariat. He has over 20 years of working experience, holding the position of increasing responsibility for water resources planning and management in the international Mekong River Basin. He performs water diplomacy through the implementation of the MRC Procedures including the Prior Consultation Process of mainstream hydropower projects under the Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation and Agreement (PNPCA).

Prior to this, he was the former chief river basin planner of the MRC Secretariat from 2016 to 2022. He played a lead role in the formation of basin development strategy and plan, joint projects and MRC procedures and technically supervised the implementation of hydropower, navigation, socioeconomics, agriculture and irrigation, climate change adaptation and integrated water resources related activities.

He holds a PhD degree in development studies with a major in politics and planning from the University of Bonn and a Master of Science in development planning from the University of Dortmund in Germany.

‍