PM Phuc to attend 2nd Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Summit

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will lead a Vietnamese delegation to the second Mekong-Lancang Cooperation (MLC) Summit set to transpire on January 10 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

PM Phuc’s attendance at the event is made at the invitation of his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen.

The MLC is a sub-regional cooperation mechanism jointly established in 2016 by six countries along the Mekong River, namely Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

A broad range of exchange activities among political parties, officials, youth and religious groups have been launched since then.

The first summit was held on March 23, 2016, outlining orientations for the cooperation mechanism, thus boosting comprehensive connection to build a responsible community and common benefit in the Mekong sub-region.

It is designed to consolidate mutual trust and deepen understanding for maintaining peace and stability. It also aims to stimulate sustainable development and poverty reduction, narrow the development gap and boost comprehensive integration into regional and global economies, and fosrter the friendship among the nations.

Joint cooperation will be focused on three pillars of politics-security; economy and sustainable development; culture-society and people-to-people exchange in the principles of equality, coordination, mutual consultation, contribution, benefit sharing, and respect for the United Nations Charter and international law.

Collaboration within the summit will also concentrate on priority fields such as water resources management, connectivity, production capacity collaboration, cross-border economic cooperation, agriculture and poverty reduction.

At the first event of this kind, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh said the cooperation mechanism could pay an important role in spurring sustainable development in the Mekong-sub region, p reinforcing relations among six countries, supporting the countries in carrying out the UN Agenda 2030 and deepening the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership.

To fully tap potential and new cooperation mechanisms, it is essential to sustainably use the Mekong River’s water resources in the face of serious droughts and salt intrusion in the lower course of the Mekong River.

Vietnam was willing to coordinate with China and other Sub-Mekong countries to develop a joint project to set up a centre for Mekong-Lancang water resource cooperation.

The second Summit is expected to adopt the Phnom Penh Declaration and the five-year Action Plan for Mekong-Lancang cooperation for 2018-2022.

With the theme “Peaceful river and our sustainable development”, the summit will review the two-year cooperation among the countries, hear reports from working groups, and discuss future cooperation orientations.

VOV