Kuala Lumpur, Nov. 15 -- Vietnam is playing a pivotal role in Mekong subregional cooperation by linking economic development with regional security and strategies, said Collins Chong Yew Keat, a Malaysian foreign affairs, security and strategy analyst based in Universiti Malaya. Talking to the Vietnam News Agency on the occasion of the 49th ASEAN Summit, being held in the Philippines, Collins Chong noted that as a downstream Mekong country, Vietnam is directly affected by upstream water management, hydropower development, environmental degradation, climate change and saltwater intrusion. These challenges affect not only Vietnam's agricultural production, food security and people's livelihoods but also mainland Southeast Asia as a whole, a...