The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Investment Cooperation Forum 2012 took place in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak on November 9.

The annual event, held in alternate regional countries, aimed to reveal means which boost investment and implement economic development objectives in the Mekong region, economic corridors in the subregion and the Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia development triangle in particular.

Participants put forward measures to remove barriers and promote regional development cooperation. They said regional countries should give investment incentives to areas facing difficulties, especially those in the development triangle.

The parties need coordination in building mechanisms and policies to attract investment from each other in order to promote the advantages and internal strengths of each country, as well as the whole region, they said.

The countries need to collaborate closely to draw in official development assistance (ODA) and foreign direct investment (FDI) to the region, while forming a large-scale materials supply zone to encourage investors to participate in building production and processing facilities, product consumption and exports - ensuring the sustainable development of the whole subregion.

Located in the GMS, the Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia development triangle holds a strategic position in the economic development cooperation between the three countries.

Attracting investment not only helps boost economic development in each region’s locality, but also further tightens economic cooperation between the triangle’s members, and unites the whole region and foreign partners.

Investment cooperation between the three countries’ businesses in the past years has seen encouraging achievements.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Vietnam has 120 projects in Cambodia with a total investment of over 2.64 billion USD, including 25 projects of 1.44 billion USD in the triangle.

The country has invested 3.6 billion USD in 218 projects in Laos , of which 50 projects worth 1.65 billion USD are centred in the development triangle.-VNA