The second Mekong-RoK Summit is held online on November 13 (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – With strong commitments and resolve of member countries, cooperation between Mekong countries and the Republic of Korea (RoK) has developed in both depth and width, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said on November 13.
Addressing the second Mekong-RoK Summit, the leader highlighted the significance of the first Mekong-RoK Summit held last year in Busan, the RoK, to the Mekong countries and the RoK.
The adoption of the Mekong-Han River Declaration for Establishing Partnership for People, Prosperity and Peace has given more strength to the cooperation, contributing to accelerating the building of the ASEAN Community, boosting regional connectivity and stepping up sustainable development of all member countries, PM Phuc said.
He attributed these cooperation achievements to the efforts and resolve of the Mekong countries, as well as the financial and technical support from the RoK people and government.
The second summit offers a chance for the sides to review the implementation of the Mekong-Han River Declaration and discuss cooperation orientations in the new context, thus elevating the cooperation to a new height, the leader said.
In his remarks, RoK President Moon Jae-in highlighted the adoption of the Mekong-Han River Declaration as a new step in cooperation between the sides.
This year, despite the pandemic, the countries have maintained their friendship and trust by providing test kits and sharing experience in disease prevention and control. Apart from infrastructure projects, the RoK and Mekong countries commit to joining hands in combating the epidemic and building medical capacity, he said.
The RoK will provide 10 million USD for developing countries in the disease fight to ensure that residents of the Mekong countries can access the vaccine.
The Mekong-Republic of Korea (RoK) cooperation initiative was raised at the 13th ASEAN-RoK Summit in October 2010 when Korean President Lee Myung Bank proposed organising the Mekong-RoK Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in order to enhance politic and economic ties between Mekong countries and the RoK, narrow the development gap, and support the building of the ASEAN Community.
The first Mekong-RoK Foreign Ministers’ Meeting was held in Seoul in October 2011. At the eighth Mekong-RoK Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Singapore in August 2018, the countries agreed to advance the cooperation mechanism from the ministerial level to the summit level.
The first Mekong-RoK Summit was convened in November 2019, during which the countries consented to cooperate on the basis of the three pillars of people, prosperity, and peace.
They identified seven priority cooperation areas – culture and tourism, human resources development, agriculture and rural development, infrastructure, information and communications, environment, and non-traditional challenges./.
VNA
