The 7th Mekong-Lancang Cooperation FMM: Top priorities for citizens to benefit

The 7th Mekong-Lancang Foreign Ministers Meeting for Cooperation (MLC), which was held in Bagan, Myanmar on July 4. (Photo: WVR/Nguyen Hong)

With the theme "Solidarity for Peace and Prosperity", the conference assessed the progress made in the implementation of the MLC Cooperation Five-Year Action Plan (2018-2022), agreeing on four main contents that MLC cooperation will focus on, namely economic recovery and development; disaster management, environmental protection, climate change adaptation, sustainable use of water resources; strengthening health security; people exchange.

Regional strong commitment to cooperate

The conference under an in-person format in the context of the complicated developments of the Covid-19 epidemic, shows the strong commitment of the countries to the cooperation mechanisms as well as the determination and efforts of Myanmar and China in the role of co-chair of the conference.

The MLC cooperation initiative with the participation of six countries (including Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and China) was first proposed by Thailand in 2012. At the ASEAN-China Summit In November 2014, the Chinese Prime Minister expressed his support for this initiative and was willing to consider the establishment of the MLC Dialogue and Cooperation mechanism. In November 2015, the first MLC Foreign Ministers' Meeting was first held in Jinghong, Yunnan, China.

On March 23, 2016, the first Summit officially kicked off the MLC cooperation among six countries in the Mekong river basin, and agreed on major orientations for the cooperation mechanism. This important conference represented a step forward in regional cooperation on sustainable management of the Mekong river's water resources. The leaders all emphasized the importance of the Mekong River for the development of the sub-region and the living of its people, and the need to strengthen cooperation among countries for the benefit of all.

The Chinese Prime Minister announced that the country pledged to contribute 300 million USD to the MLC Cooperation Fund over the next five years to support the implementation of "early harvest" projects; 10 billion yuan for concessional loans, 5 billion USD for buy-side credits and 5 billion USD for special loans for infrastructure projects and production capacity cooperation.

At the 7^th conference held in Myanmar recently, the foreign ministers highly appreciated the positive results and contributions of MLC to regional cooperation and development, especially in the context of a complicated epidemic situation. Accordingly, it must be mentioned the successful organization of the 2^nd MLC Water Resources Forum; conducting joint research on hydrometeorology and disaster prevention; organized the first local government cooperation forum, the tourism city alliance workshop, the activities to celebrate the five years of MLC cooperation and the MLC Week in the six member countries; many large infrastructure projects have been completed; hundreds of technical assistance projects implemented.

The activities of Vietnam Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son on the occasion of the conference. (Photo:WVR/ Nguyen Hong)

Vietnam's positive joint efforts

Being well aware of the role and significance of MLC cooperation for the sustainable development and prosperity of the Mekong sub-region, Vietnam has actively participated from the very beginning in the process of forming this cooperation mechanism.

In particular, Vietnam has made many contributions in terms of content and cooperation aspects, contributing to promoting MLC ideas into reality, such as actively participating in the development of important, cooperation-oriented documents. In particular, Vietnam has pushed to make water cooperation a priority area of MLC. Ministries, branches and agencies have participated in the activities of the working groups, initially participated in developing documents on the plan, and orientation of the activities of each working group.

Vietnam has proposed projects that have been agreed by countries, included in the list of early harvest projects to implement the first phase of MLC cooperation. These projects all have practical benefits, consistent with the priorities of MLC cooperation, especially the project to strengthen coordination in flood and drought management in the MLC river basin and the project to harmonize standards and procedures between countries in the sub-region.

Since the beginning of 2021, Vietnam has actively coordinated with other countries to organize Summits, Ministerial Conferences and commemorative activities. Currently, there are 12 projects from Vietnam that have been successfully registered and in the process of implementation, and 17 more projects registered in 2023. At the same time, Vietnam participates in the meeting of the diplomatic working group, other activities and training courses within the framework of MLC cooperation.

The Lancang Mekong supports 70 million people living in the basin.（Photo: thethirdpole)

At the 7^th MLC Cooperation Foreign Ministers Meeting, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son once again affirmed Vietnam's importance and effective contribution to MLC cooperation.

Minister Bui Thanh Son emphasized that in the post-pandemic period, member countries need to ensure that MLC develops in a practical direction, taking economic growth and sustainable development as a top priority, bringing about real benefits to the people.

Accordingly, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son proposed the main group of measures as follows.

"First, economic recovery and resilience should be front and centre. Fresh out of the pandemic, the global economy continues to grapple with elevated inflation, supply chain disruption, energy scarcity and the risk of economic recession. Therefore, we should facilitate policy dialogues, exchanges of best practices in macroeconomic governance, particularly in insulating our economies from external shocks. Moreover, as cross-border trade is an asset of our land-linked region, I welcome the efforts to deepen cooperation in customs and trade facilitation to resolve cargo congestion and ensure the smooth flow of goods and services, particularly seasonal agricultural produce.

Second, climate change adaption and green economy transition are the path to a viable future. Many of us, Vietnam included, have made ambitious climate commitments at COP26, and by working together we will deliver them. As the world's largest producer of renewable energy, China has a lot of expertise and technology that can be shared with the Mekong countries. Hence, we look forward to greater cooperation in upgrading clean energy generation and storage capacities. Furthermore, it’s important to strengthen cooperation in climate-smart agriculture, including the use of advanced technologies. This will help our countries ensure food security while lowering the carbon footprint. As disaster management is an important component of climate change adaption, we fully support efforts to foster cooperation among six countries in this area.

Third, preserving healthy rivers and water resource systems is vital to the future of our region. We should accelerate the development of new MLC Water Resources Cooperation Action Plan 2023-2027, encourage relevant MLC authorities to step up consultation, dialogue on water resource development plans, and expand the scope of meteorological, hydrological and dam-operational data sharing. We should also encourage expanding collaboration between MLC and the Mekong River Commission, including joint study on formulating a 10-year common development strategy for the whole Mekong-Lancang river basin.

Fourth, people-to-people connectivity is the foundation of our long-term friendship and good neighbourliness. I hope that we can soon restore tourism activities to the pre-pandemic level, with a focus on ecotourism, agri-tourism, cultural and heritage tourism, gastronomy and community-based tourism. I also welcome deeper engagement between local authorities and stronger cooperation among six countries in culture, sports, education, media, youth and women’s economic empowerment. These are important platforms to bring MLC closer to our peoples and make a meaningful contribution to poverty alleviation and economic growth."

Vietnam Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son at the conference. (Photo: WVR/Nguyen Hong)

The Minister's speech was highly appreciated by the member countries. This was reflected in the documents adopted by the Conference, including a Joint Press Release and four joint statements on strengthening agricultural cooperation, disaster prevention, customs and trade facilitation, and exchanges between MLC civilizations.

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