Mekong nations, China praise fruits of cooperation

Leaders of Mekong countries and China have said they greatly value the successes of their cooperation in the past two years, which has helped to improve the livelihoods of people in the region.
The assessment was made at the Third Summit of Mekong-Lancang Cooperation (MLC) held on August 24, which was chaired by Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith and Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang.

Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia, President U Win Myint of Myanmar, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha of Thailand, and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc of Vietnam also took part in the meeting via video link.
The leaders said they highly valued the implementation of the five-year action plan (2018-2022) within the MLC framework over the past two years as well as the implementation of projects through the MLC special fund supported by China with US$300 million, which they said had contributed to socio-economic development in the Mekong region.
Meeting participants also agreed that the implementation of programmes and projects under the Sanya Declaration and Phnom Penh Declaration adopted at the first and second Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Summits had progressed tangibly in many fields, enabling the cooperation framework to broaden and deepen in many respects.
Several projects in Laos have been carried out successfully, especially in the fields of infrastructure development, rural development, and poverty reduction.
The Laos-China railway, which is now 90 percent complete, and the Vientiane-Vangvieng Expressway, which is scheduled to become operational this year, were cited by the Lao prime minister as examples of tangible cooperation.
“I think these projects will contribute to the development of essential infrastructure for the multi-ethnic people, enabling mutual visits through regional connectivity in compliance with the Master Plan on Asean Connectivity, and the Belt and Road Initiative,” Mr Thongloun said.
“The railway and expressway will enable improved goods transport, business operations, services, regional market access, job creation and income generation, all of which will lead to improved livelihoods,” he added.
Leaders also discussed topics that would strengthen cooperation, such as efforts to suppress Covid-19 and plans for economic recovery in the wake of the pandemic in the Mekong region.
Mekong country leaders thanked China for its effective and timely efforts to prevent the spread of Covid-19. In his capacity as co-chair of the Mekong countries, Mr Thongloun thanked China for providing medical equipment and expertise to the Mekong countries, including Laos.
He praised the joint efforts of MLC member countries in implementing the project on human resource development, specifically the development of managers, project managers and planners.
He also expressed appreciation for the upgrade of the water management cooperation mechanism from the technical level to a ministerial meeting, which he said was essential for sustainable development.
The leaders approved the Vientiane Declaration of the Third Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Leaders meeting, and other related documents on future cooperation.
With regard to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and natural disasters, Mr Thongloun called for closer collaboration in overcoming the challenges.
The Union of Myanmar and China will co-chair the MLC for the next two years.

By Somxay Sengdara
(Latest Update August 25, 2020)