PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc leaves for third MRC Summit in Cambodia

Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc left Hanoi on April 4 for Cambodia to attend the third Mekong River Commission (MRC) Summit in Siem Reap from April 4-5 at the invitation of Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen.

 The event, themed “Joint Efforts and Partnership towards Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in the Mekong”, will create an opportunity for countries to review the operation of the MRC over the past four years and work to realise sustainable development goals.

The 4,800 km-long Mekong River flows through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Its basin spreads over 795,000 square kilometres in the four countries of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

In 1956, the Mekong Committee was established under the auspices of the United Nations to coordinate aid and manage resources in the river basin. In 1995, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam signed an Agreement on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River and set up the MRC, replacing the Mekong Committee.

The MRC holds its summit every four years, starting from 2010. The first MRC summit was held in Hua Hin, Thailand in 2010 and the second one took place in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in 2014.-VNA