Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has written an articleentitled “Mekong – the River of cooperation and development” ahead of the sixthGreater Mekong Sub-Region Summit (GMS-6) and the 10th Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Summit (CLV-10) scheduled for March29-31 in Hanoi.
Asmultilateral external events of top significance in the country, the eventswill gather leaders from Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Onthe occasion, Vietnam initiated holding the first GMS Business Summit which hasbeen welcomed by the GMS member countries and the Asia Development Bank, theWorld Bank and ASEAN. More than 2,000 businesspeople at home and abroad linedup for the summit, equivalent to the APEC CEO Summit 2017, he said.
GMSwas established in 1992 as an initiative of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).The GMS Programme is the most complete cooperation programme that involvesVietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, and China (Yunnan and Guangxiprovinces) with an aim to facilitate mutually-beneficial economic ties and turnMekong into a rapid and prosperous region in Southeast Asia.
Othercooperation mechanisms were also established such as the CLV DevelopmentTriangle, the Cambodia – Laos – Myanmar – Vietnam (CLMV) and the Ayeyawady-ChaoPhraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy among Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia,Laos and Vietnam, towards narrowing the development gap, facilitating regionaleconomic integration and strengthening joint efforts against common challenges.
WithinGMS cooperation framework, countries and development partners raised nearly 21billion USD for socio-economic development projects in six member nations. Japanprovided an aid of roughly 13 billion USD for the Mekong countries for the 2009– 2015 period and disbursed around 6.5 billion USD for 2016-2018.
TheUS funded 50 million USD for the Lower Mekong Initiative for 2013-2015 andcommitted 1.25 million USD to the launch of the Sustainable InfrastructurePartnership Programme for 2016-2018.
Indiaoffered an annual grant of 1 million USD to the Project Development Fund andprovided more scholarships for the Mekong countries. The Republic of Korea(RoK) vows to donate 1 million USD to the Mekong – RoK Cooperation Fund andplans to raise it to 2 million USD in the near future.
Recently,China planned to invest nearly 10 billion USD in the GMS area, especially innorth-south transport connectivity projects. The country also committed 300million USD to the Mekong – Lancang Cooperation Special Fund and manypreferential loans and credit.
ThePM described the Mekong region as a direct “security and development space” ofVietnam, saying it, apart from contributing to creating a peaceful andfavourable environment in the region, has also contributed to the stability anddevelopment of Vietnam.
Mekongcooperation mechanisms have helped Vietnam attract resources from developmentpartners to boost growth and regional connectivity, particularly in borderareas. As of December 2017, connectivity projects within the GMS framework inVietnam were worth nearly 6 billion USD, or about 30 percent of the total.
TheHo Chi Minh City – Moc Bai route, Hai Van tunnel, upgraded Da Nang seaport, thesecond international Mekong bridge linking Thailand – Laos – Vietnam roads withthe East Sea, the Kunming – Hai Phong corridor, the longest Noi Bai – Lao Cai highwayand many other projects have brought practical benefits to the Vietnamesepeople within the Mekong cooperation framework.
Anumber of important cooperation agreements and master development plans weresigned, contributing to promoting trade and investment among member nations.Socio-cultural programmes have stepped up people-to-people exchanges and raisedmutual understanding among people.
Mekongcooperation frameworks have created dialogue channels with Mekong river basin countriesand attracted financial and technical support in the use and sustainablemanagement of Mekong River water resources from development partners.
Apartfrom the Mekong River Commission channel, Vietnam also partnered with countriesto protect the environment and water resources security.
Recognizing the importance of the Mekong region, Vietnam has been participatingproactively and actively in all Mekong cooperation frameworks.
Intrade and investment, Vietnam has joined activities to facilitate trade andinvestment within the GMS framework, including the Strategic Framework forAction on Trade Facilitation and Investment with focus on simplifying customsprocedures, harmonising regulations on hygiene standards to cut inspection timeat border gates, improving the capacity of supplying logistics services andsimplifying visa procedures for businesspeople in the region.
Vietnamand GMS member countries have completed the signing of protocols and annexes ofthe GMS Cross-Border Transport and Trade Facilitation Programme (GMS CBTA),signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the early harvest of the GMS CBTA. Theone stop shop inspection model was launched at Lao Bao – Densavan border gatebetween Vietnam and Laos in 2015. Vietnam is negotiating a similar pilot modelat Moc Bai – Ba Vet border with Cambodia.
Inenvironment and water resources management, Vietnam together with Mekong RiverCommission countries worked to meet requirements and completed procedures toshare data, monitor the use of water, maintain the flow of the Mekong Rivermainstream to materialise the Mekong Agreement and specify responsibilities of themember countries for protecting Mekong River water resources.
WithinACMECS framework, Vietnam was the first country to initiate establishing aworking group on the environment, and devise the Action Plan and co-chair thegroup. The country also played the role of directing environment coordination withinthe Lower Mekong – US framework, actively joined the initiative “A Decadetowards the Green Mekong” within the Mekong – Japan framework, and waterresources cooperation within the Mekong – Lancang framework.
Thecountry actively built the framework strategy on GMS environment protection andan environment information and monitoring system, reduce poverty, and manage theenvironment in remote and mountainous areas.
Ineducation and training, Vietnam sent hundreds of officials and cadres totraining courses in the fields of infrastructure management, project design andappraisal, trade policy and education management, leadership in management. Thecountry built the strategic framework and Action Plan on Developing GMS HumanResources for the 2009-2021 and 2013 – 2017 periods.
Vietnamhas welcomed many Lao and Cambodian officials and students to Tay Nguyen Universityand helped build boarding schools in the Lao province of Sekong and theCambodian province of Ratanakiri.
Vietnamalso built a CLMV scholarship fund to offer hundreds of scholarships toCambodia, Laos and Myanmar, one of the first 58 projects with outstandingresults within CLMV mechanism.
Thecountry has made contributions to GMS development cooperation via holdingconferences and seminars, devising important documents, and promotinginitiatives and financial support. Vietnam successfully held the seventh ACMECSSummit and the eighth CLMV meeting in October 2016, the second Mekong – JapanSummit, the third Mekong – Japan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, and the second LowerMekong – US Ministerial Meeting in 2010.
Vietnamand CLV countries reviewed and built the master plan on development triangletill 2020 and a portal in Vietnamese, English, Lao and Khmer languages. Vietnamassisted Laos and Cambodia in building several major roads linking with borderprovinces, border markets and inspection stations.
Vietnamesefirms poured upwards 3.8 billion USD into more than 100 projects in Laos andCambodia.
Withthe stature heightened and experience in development and global integration accumulatedover nearly the past three decades, the joining of Mekong cooperation hasenabled Vietnam to have better conditions for its socio-economic developmentand for the sake of peace, cooperation and development in the region, the PMconcluded. -VNA
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