Creating breakthroughs in infrastructure, human resources, and institutions to promote cooperation in the CLV Development Triangle

At the 13th Conference of the Joint Coordination Committee of the Cambodia - Laos - Vietnam (CLV) Development Triangle Area, Minister Nguyen Chi Dung proposed many solutions to create a breakthrough in cooperation in the Area.

The 13th meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee of the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam (CLV) Development Triangle Area took place on the morning of March 1 in Attapeu (Laos), chaired by Lao Minister of Planning and Investment Khammchen Vongphosy, Chairman of the Coordination Committee of the Lao PDR; Minister of Commerce CHAM Nimul, Chairman of the Coordination Committee of Cambodia, and Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung, Chairman of the Coordination Committee of the CLV Development Triangle Area of Vietnam.

In their opening remarks, all three Ministers highly appreciated the results of cooperation in the CLV Development Triangle Area in recent times, and agreed that it is necessary to continue promoting cooperation for the socio-economic development of each side and of the entire Region.

CLV cooperation is a top priority

Speaking at the opening of the Conference, Minister Nguyen Chi Dung emphasized that the solidarity, friendship, closeness and political trust between the three countries of Cambodia - Laos - Vietnam is a "precious heritage" for all three peoples, and has strategic significance in the cause of construction, protection and development of the three countries.

Minister Nguyen Chi Dung speaks at the Conference.

“Vietnam always considers this a strategic task and a top priority in Vietnam’s foreign policy,” Minister Nguyen Chi Dung emphasized, adding that in 2024, the three countries will mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the CLV Development Triangle Area. This is an important milestone in the cooperation process in this Area.

Assessing the results of cooperation in recent times, Minister Nguyen Chi Dung said that the three countries have coordinated to carry out many joint cooperation activities, not only contributing to promoting socio-economic development, poverty reduction and enhancing connectivity in the CLV Development Triangle Area, but also promoting exchanges between the three National Assemblies, three Governments, organizations and people of the three countries through comprehensive cooperation in many fields, including transportation, telecommunications, energy, trade, investment, industry, finance - banking, agriculture, tourism, health, culture, labor, education, environment, science and technology.

“Within the framework of CLV cooperation, we have initially built and formed open policy mechanisms to promote investment and trade in the region. Large investment projects have been and are being implemented in the fields of hydropower, cooperation in searching, exploiting and processing minerals, and planting and processing high-value industrial crops. The infrastructure system has gradually been formed and developed, especially in the fields of transportation and hydropower,” Minister Nguyen Chi Dung emphasized.

According to the Minister, to date, Vietnamese enterprises have invested in 110 projects with a total investment capital of 3.7 billion USD in the Development Triangle Area in Laos and Cambodia.

The scale of trade turnover between Vietnam and Laos has been continuously expanded from 823.4 million USD in 2016 to 1.63 billion USD in 2023 (2.1 times). The scale of Vietnam - Cambodia trade has also increased nearly 3 times; from 2.92 billion USD in 2016 to 8.56 billion USD in 2023.

In addition, cooperation in the fields of diplomacy, security, transportation, agriculture, health, tourism, etc. has also been actively and effectively implemented by ministries, branches and localities of both sides. The common electronic information page of the CLV Development Triangle Area in 4 languages: Cambodian, Lao, Vietnamese and English has initially played the role of an important source of information and documents promoting the CLV Development Triangle Area, updating projects and activities in the area.

“It can be said that the favorable mechanisms and policies of the three countries of Cambodia - Laos - Vietnam for the CLV Development Triangle Area, together with the cooperative efforts of the three countries in recent times, have contributed to promoting growth and development for the CLV Development Triangle Area,” Minister Nguyen Chi Dung emphasized.

Creating breakthroughs in infrastructure, human resources and institutional reform

Although cooperation in the CLV Development Triangle Area has achieved positive results, Minister Nguyen Chi Dung frankly pointed out that these results are still limited, have not met expectations, and have not really created a breakthrough for socio-economic development of localities in the region.

Many reasons were pointed out by Minister Nguyen Chi Dung, including limitations and shortcomings in infrastructure, human resources and institutions; some mechanisms and agreements in the Region have been approved but have not been actively implemented; resources to implement programs and projects for this region from each country are still limited, while calling for support from outside sources is still not much.

Conference Overview.

“Trade and investment cooperation still has many shortcomings; tax, customs and investment procedures policies are inconsistent; implementation of cooperation projects on infrastructure development is slower than planned,” said the Minister.

According to the Minister, the problem lies in the fact that some localities have not been active in coordinating the implementation of activities; the level of socio-economic development and consumption scale of people in some provinces in the region are still low; the quality of human resources in the region has not met the requirements; the poverty rate is still high...

Not to mention, the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, instability in the food, energy, financial and monetary markets, decline in investment, disruption of global supply chains, etc. have also directly affected and hindered the three countries in implementing development goals in the CLV Development Triangle Area.

“To promote the implementation as well as build the direction and cooperation plan of the CLV Development Triangle Area for the following years, our three countries need to have breakthrough solutions in infrastructure development, human resource development and institutional reform,” Minister Nguyen Chi Dung emphasized.

Specifically, regarding infrastructure development, according to the Minister, countries need to prioritize resources for developing vital traffic routes serving the transportation of goods to seaports and commercial centers.

“Vietnam will prioritize the construction of the Ngoc Hoi - Quy Nhon expressway to serve the export demand of goods in the Development Triangle Area. We propose that Laos and Cambodia proactively prioritize resources to renovate and upgrade traffic routes connecting to Vietnam's Ngoc Hoi - Quy Nhon expressway,” Minister Nguyen Chi Dung proposed.

Meanwhile, regarding human resource development, the Minister said that the three countries need to have synchronous solutions to develop human resources to attract investment, especially in areas where the region has strengths such as high-tech agriculture, renewable energy, mining, tourism, etc. In the immediate future, it is necessary to prioritize existing training cooperation programs for human resource development in the region.

Regarding institutional reform, according to the Minister, each country needs to proactively review current mechanisms, obstacles to business development, investment attraction..., and proactively identify priority projects based on the strengths of each locality in the region.

There is a need for specific policies to encourage trade and investment.

Along with focusing on institutional reform, infrastructure development and human resources, Minister Nguyen Chi Dung said that the three countries need to continue implementing cooperation programs in various fields.

The three countries discussed to find directions and solutions to promote cooperation in the CLV Development Triangle Area.

Regarding economic cooperation, the Minister said that it is necessary to continue to disseminate and develop an Action Plan to promote the effective implementation of agreements and arrangements agreed and signed within the cooperation framework of the CLV Development Triangle Area, including bilateral cooperation agreements and arrangements signed between countries.

At the same time, continue to research to concretize, through specific mechanisms and policies for the CLV Development Triangle Area to encourage trade and investment, focusing on border trade and developing land border gate economies between the three countries, and building border infrastructure.

“It is necessary to simplify procedures for transporting goods across borders, preserving agricultural products, and inspecting quality, etc., contributing to reducing labor and transportation costs,” Minister Nguyen Chi Dung emphasized, adding that it is also necessary to create favorable conditions for projects in the fields of high-tech agriculture, solar power, wind power, mining and processing industries to be deployed in the region.

In addition, it is necessary to quickly and effectively implement the Action Plan to connect the three economies to improve competitiveness, the ability to attract foreign investment, and shorten the development gap with other ASEAN members.

From another perspective, the Minister said that, in addition to economic development cooperation, it is necessary to focus on strengthening cooperation in security - foreign affairs, society and environment.

Along with that, promote cooperation between provinces in the region. Accordingly, one of the contents emphasized by the Minister is that besides the scope of cooperation between provinces in the region, each locality needs to be more proactive in connecting cooperation within the CLV Development Triangle with the outside to seek opportunities and attract the attention of international donors.

Meanwhile, regarding implementation resources, the Minister said that during the implementation process, it is necessary to study and integrate the development goals of the CLV Development Triangle Area into national and local socio-economic development plans; as well as prioritize the allocation of national budget resources (public investment) for projects in the area.

“We also need to encourage and have a mechanism to attract private resources; at the same time, research and orient ODA projects of Vietnam and Cambodia in suitable fields so that they can be implemented in the CLV Development Triangle Area,” Minister Nguyen Chi Dung proposed.

At the end of his speech, Minister Nguyen Chi Dung expressed his belief that the results of today's Conference will contribute significantly to promoting the implementation as well as building the orientation and cooperation plan of the CLV Development Triangle Area for the following years.

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