Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam parliamentary summit ‘historic, crucial’: President

The first Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam (CLV) Parliamentary Summit is a historic event and is crucial to driving development in the three countries, President Thongloun Sisoulith told the opening ceremony of the meeting, which kicked off in Vientiane on Tuesday.
The head of state said he highly valued the inaugural summit, which brought together top legislators from the three neighbouring countries to discuss a comprehensive cooperation framework under their scope of their responsibilities.

President Thongloun Sisoulith.

“This framework will serve to bolster and ensure the effective monitoring of programmes and activities under the relevant ministries and sectors of the three countries, particularly the cooperation and investment projects being implemented by the three governments as well as internationally-supported projects in the CLV Development Triangle Area,” President Thongloun said.
All of these will strengthen solidarity, friendship and cooperation for effective and efficient development in the triangle area and improve people’s livelihoods, he added.
The President of Laos’ National Assembly, Dr Xaysomphone Phomvihane, and his Cambodian and Vietnamese counterparts Khuon Sudary and Vuong Dinh Hue respectively headed delegations attending the two-day summit, which was elevated from a committee-level meeting.
President Thongloun said the theme of the summit, ‘Strengthening the Role of Parliaments in Promoting Comprehensive Cooperation among Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam’, was timely and relevant to the current development situation in the three countries.
The theme, he added, also responded to the infrastructure and socio-economic development needs in the CLV Development Triangle Area.
“I support the legislative bodies of the three countries in strengthening their role in pushing for and monitoring the implementation of cooperation programmes and projects to ensure effective and efficient results,” he said.
The Lao president noted that the summit was convened amid rapid changes in the regional and international environment, which were hard to predict. Simultaneously, extreme weather events, climate change, and the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic continue to pose challenges for global development, including in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
In the recent past, the CLV Development Triangle Area has encountered several challenges including natural disasters, the Covid-19 pandemic and degraded infrastructure, which have affected local people’s livelihoods.
However, the Lao president noted that developments in the CLV Development Triangle Area had gained sound momentum, driving socio-economic development, alleviating poverty, and improving regional connectivity.
First established in 1999, the Development Triangle Area initially encompassed the three countries’ 10 border provinces.
In 2009, it was decided to add one more province from each country to make a total of 13 provinces. At a summit held in 2018, the countries’ leaders agreed to gradually expand the triangle area to include the whole territory of the three countries.

By Times Reporters
 (Latest Update December 7, 2023)