Affirming the core role in Mekong sub-regional cooperation

At the invitation of Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Qiang, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Pham Minh Chinh led a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to attend the 8th Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Summit from November 5 to 8, 2024.

On this occasion, the Prime Minister attended the 10th Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy Summit (ACMECS) and the 11th Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam Cooperation Summit (CLMV) and worked in China. These are regular conferences of the GMS, ACMECS and CLMV, and are also the first direct high-level activities of these mechanisms since 2018.

The GMS program, supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), was established in 1992, with the participation of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and China. The GMS promotes cooperation on three pillars of connectivity, community, and competitiveness, and in 10 areas including agriculture, energy, environment, health, human resources, information technology, tourism, transport, trade competitiveness and urban development.

After more than thirty years of development, GMS has made many important strides in supporting the Mekong sub-region in connecting infrastructure and developing economic corridors.

The ACMECS mechanism was established at the Bagan Summit in November 2003 at the initiative of Thailand. ACMECS is the only intra-bloc cooperation mechanism with full participation of the five Mekong sub-region countries including Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

The goal of ACMECS is to strengthen economic cooperation to promote advantages and enhance the competitiveness of member countries. Accordingly, ACMECS strives to mobilize resources to implement a number of projects to support small and medium enterprises, promote cross-border trade, connect soft infrastructure, develop smart skills and improve the capacity of medical staff.

The CLMV Summit was first held in November 2004 in Vientiane, Laos, within the framework of the 10th ASEAN Summit. With the aim of supporting Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam to narrow the development gap and integrate into the common development process of the region, CLMV cooperation focuses on six areas including trade and investment, agriculture, industry and energy, transport, tourism and human resource development. Member countries have recently focused on implementing the CLMV Development Framework, including a number of capacity building projects and organizing trade and investment promotion fairs.

Vietnam always attaches importance to the Mekong sub-regional cooperation mechanisms. In particular, Vietnam considers GMS and ACMECS as mechanisms of strategic significance, associated with leading important partners; and considers CLMV as a mechanism to increase the support and interest of the international community for the development of the Mekong sub-region. In the above mechanisms, Vietnam demonstrates proactive, positive participation and responsible contribution to the common interests of the region, enhances the effectiveness of sub-regional cooperation, and mobilizes external resources to serve the country's development.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's working trip takes place in the context of the world and regional situation continuing to develop in a complex and unpredictable manner. Non-traditional security challenges, such as climate change and natural disasters, have multi-dimensional impacts on the Mekong sub-region countries.

In addition to promoting economic development strategies and building projects on the Mekong River, the countries have also strengthened coordination and cooperation in sub-regional mechanisms to effectively respond to challenges. The working trip also took place in the context of the continued good development of Vietnam-China relations, with the highlight being high-level visits between the two countries in recent times.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's working trip to attend the 8th GMS Summit aims to demonstrate Vietnam's support for host country China, as well as the desire to enhance political trust and maintain the development momentum of the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

The working trip also aims to affirm that Vietnam supports Laos in its role as ACMECS Chair; wishes to strengthen solidarity and enhance the effectiveness of cooperation among the five ACMECS member countries for the development of the sub-region, in areas such as sustainable management of transboundary water resources, response to climate change and natural disasters, comprehensive regional connectivity, digital transformation, and green transformation.

Attending the 11th CLMV Summit, Vietnam expressed its desire to continue promoting cooperation with member countries in human resource development, business connectivity, trade and investment facilitation, as well as enhancing ASEAN's role in sub-regional cooperation.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's working trip aims to continue implementing the policy of the 13th National Party Congress on deep, comprehensive, effective international integration and raising the level of multilateral diplomacy, as well as Conclusion No. 56-KL/TW dated May 23, 2023 of the Politburo on strategic orientations for Mekong sub-regional cooperation until 2030.

Wishing the working trip of the Vietnamese high-ranking delegation led by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh a great success, continuing to affirm Vietnam's importance to the GMS, ACMECS and CLMV cooperation mechanisms, and at the same time demonstrating Vietnam's core role and responsible contribution to Mekong sub-regional cooperation.

PEOPLE

Source: https://nhandan.vn/khang-dinh-vai-tro-nong-cot-trong-hop-tac-tieu-vung-me-cong-post843083.html