In our research project, funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, we investigate various socio-economic impacts of mining as a powerful international industry in two countries in Mekong area: Laos and Thailand. The impacts of mining industry are multi faceted. Mining activities might be painted as a collective effort of a bunch of rapacious monsters, keen to simply tear up the land, clear cut forest, extract all the minerals from the earth and runaway. That old picture needs to change when we think of developmental aspects of the industry.
Partnership among stakeholders such as local and international Governments, mining multinational corporations (MNCs), community, and educational institutions can improve technical and vocational aspects as well as research delivered in response to mining industry demands. International mining industry can increase employment opportunities for local people and improve local participation in the industry.
Similar to most international industries, benefits from this industry come with some challenges. Stories of gold mining communities in Pichit Thailand and Vilabouly in Laos may sound like a classic story of a typical rural community that is discovered by a gigantic, powerful mining MNCs. Both community face rapid economic changes where employment opportunities, new infrastructure, and new opportunities in life are created by the advent of international mining MNCs.
However, with economic miracle, members of the community also feel 'the air of economic challenges.' The majority of workers of mining MNCs from our study raised a similar concern on uncertain economic future in the community. What can be done to guarantee this constant income in the future, when the end of mining industry approaches the community? In the Laos context, economic miracle from this international industry has long been supporting on-going development in the community. When the land becomes useless for mining industry, community members question their economic future. What should they and mining MNCs do to mitigate this future economic impact in the host counties?
The second challenge we learn from the project is the importance of relationship among mining stakeholders. If we use ‘stakeholder theory’ by Ed Freeman to explain international mining industry, we understand that the conventional idea that business is about maximizing profits for shareholders is outdated. It does not work well in modern economy since the recent global financial crisis has taught us. The 21st Century is one of “Managing for Stakeholders.” The task of mining executives is to create as much value as possible for stakeholders without resorting to trade-offs.
With the serious (and notorious) circumstance in Thailand where the Thai Government commanded a mining MNC to shut down its operation, due to its potential contribution to public health concerns in the community, we learn that the failure to manage different demands from various stakeholders can be one of the key issues contributing to this problem.
Rural community may benefit from various levels of engagement among mining stakeholders that can potentially bring tremendous economic and technical benefits to community members. However, when various stakeholders involve, most mining MNCs may fail to respond to different demands from all stakeholders. That can potentially lead to management failure as one of the challenges in international mining industry.
In summary, benefits of mining industry can prevail over negative impacts if mining MNCs work very closely with and listen to all stakeholders in the host country. If community development is seen as an important element of international mining industry, it is important that mining MNCs must move beyond the point of being an industry where people engage purely for monetary benefits. The industry must speak out loud as an industry for sustainable development.
ADRAS project is unique from any other research schemes in the sense that we need to focus on the developmental aspect of the project. In the previous month, our team focused on building research capacity and skills with partners from Rajabhat, Burapha and Thammasat Universities. At this phase of the project, we visited the National University of Laos to work with our team and their students on the capacity building on research and communication of research in developmental studies.
We value the contribution of this project from both developmental and educational perspectives. Hence, our capacity building activities will focus on strategy to use education as a key tool to work with delegates from various developmental agencies in Lao PDR and countries in Mekong region.
Patuxai
In early March, our team organised a workshop on research and communication in developmental studies, base on our fieldwork in Vilabouly (Lao PDR) and Pijit (Thailand). The workshop participants are 17 postgraduate students in the master of sciences in community development from National University of Laos (NUOL).
All of them are experienced workers from various international NGOs, Governmental agencies, business owners, and officers form international organisations in Lao PDR and the region. They were interested in conducting an individual community development project and keen to discuss and share their research experiences with our team. In particular, delegates who are currently working on gender, mitigation of natural disasters in Laos, and mining for development were keen to share with us their work and experiences from the fields.
Workshop was conducted by Associate Professor Kabmanivanh Phouxay from NUOL and Associate Professor Natt Pimpa from RMIT University. The key foci of the workshop include methodology for research in community development, how to identify impacts of your research, and communication techniques for researchers in this discipline.
Activity/Brainstorming
One important discussion among participants at the workshop is how to make the most of modern social media and electronic platforms to create impacts of our research in community development. Issues on modern platform such as open-access journal, linkedin, and webinar concept were debated among participants from NUOL.
Photo with some delegates from NUOL
At the end of the training session, the delegates reflected upon their experiences at the workshop. For them, the most important learning aspect was their comprehension on communication strategies and techniques for research. It is commonly known that research in community development or economic development tend not to be well and strategically communicated, due to lack of skills and proper understanding of communication concept. It is our hope that this capacity building program, funded by DFAT, will be useful for all participants from Laos.
