The role of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam within the Greater Mekong Sub-region in its new context is the topic of the first international annual workshop held in Da Nang on July 23.

The event was organised by the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, the Lao National Social Sciences Institute and the Cambodian Science Institute.

The workshop is to realise the memorandum of understanding on scientific cooperation between the institutes of the three countries signed this year.

Addressing the opening session, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang, President of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, highlighted the dynamic development of the Southeast Asian region, including Cambodia , Laos and Vietnam , and economic cooperation and links throughout the Greater Mekong Sub-region, saying that they have helped mobilise financial sources and technical assistance for development.

Sub-regional cooperation requires the building of links in many areas, including social sciences, Thang said, adding that linking activities has become a focus within cooperation frameworks between the three countries.

The Vietnam academy highly appreciated the progresses and acknowledged the outcomes obtained within social scientific cooperation frameworks of Cambodia , Laos and Vietnam , he said.

During the one-day event, participants discussed the international and regional situation and the role of three countries in the Greater Sub-Mekong region and acceleration of scientific cooperation between Cambodia , Laos and Vietnam .

Apart from bilateral cooperation among them, the three countries have pushed up their cooperation within the ASEAN framework, and regional and international forms such as the Mekong River Commission (MRC), the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), the programme on development of trans-national poor areas along the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC), the Ayeyawady-Chao Praya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS), the Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam Development Quadrangle (CLMV), the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle.-VNA