Vietnam vows to join China and Mekong countries to advance cooperation

The Vietnamese Government will continue to work with China and Mekong countries to make Mekong-Lancang cooperation (MLC) stronger and more effective and sustainable, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said on Monday.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh addresses the fourth MLC Leaders’ Meeting held via videoconference. Photo: Duong Giang/VNA

The Vietnamese PM addressed the fourth MLC Leaders’ Meeting held via videoconference, attended by the PMs and heads of the delegations of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, China, and Vietnam.

He emphasized that Mekong-Lancang cooperation has become an important mechanism connecting Mekong countries and China and a model of win-win cooperation. In the face of rapid, profound changes in the global economy, the six members countries need a new, more comprehensive thinking coupled with  an all-people, all-region, and global approach and new, drastic, creative and groundbreaking solutions.

PM Chinh proposed three priorities for the MLC. First, the countries should build a Mekong-Lancang region of modernity and development. Second, build a green, sustainable and inclusive Mekong-Lancang region, which ensures harmony between the present and the future, between economic growth and environmental protection, taking people as the center, subject, driving force, resource and goal of development, leaving no one behind. Third, build the Mekong-Lancang region of peace and cooperation.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attends the fourth MLC Leaders’ Meeting held via videoconference. Photo: Duong Giang/VNA

The videoconference evaluated cooperation results over the past three years and discussed directions for the coming period. The leaders emphasized MLC's important contributions to peace, cooperation and development in the Mekong sub-region and the region, and pledged further coordination to build a community with a shared future of peace and prosperity between the Mekong and Lan Thuong countries.

Leaders adopted the Nay Pyi Taw Declaration, the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Action Plan until 2027 and the Mekong-Lancang Innovation Corridor Initiative.