Hanoi (VNA) – Senior economic officials from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar andVietnam (CLMV) gathered in Hanoi on January 12 for their 18th meeting hosted by the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

Thiswas an important meeting of the CLMV economic cooperation mechanism within theeconomic cooperation channel of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) in 2020.

Thebiannual event focused on the plan to realize the outcomes of the 11th CLMV Economic Ministers’ Meeting that took place in Bangkok, Thailand, onSeptember 5, 2019; the implementation of the 2019-2020 CLMV action plan; andnecessary procedures for the submission of the CLMV development frameworkadopted by CLMV economic ministers last September, to the upcoming CLMV Summit,according to the MoIT’s Asian-African Market Department.

Theofficials also had a discussion with the ASEAN Secretariat on the deployment ofthe plan regarding the third phase of the Initiative for ASEAN Integration(AIA) and other relevant issues.

Theysuggested the ASEAN Secretariat further support the four countries in connectingwith their development partners, and mapping out a plan to implement the CLMVdevelopment framework after it is approved at the CLMV Summit.

TheCLMV development framework provides strategic orientations for economiccollaboration between the four countries, and it is the first of its kind thathas been formed since the establishment of the CLMV cooperation mechanism, theAsian-African Market Department said, adding that it looks towards a developedand competitive CLMV region by 2030.

Theofficials also spent time reviewing the implementation of some projects fundedby development partners like Japan, India and Germany.

Accordingto the department, the annual CLMV Economic Ministers’ Meeting on the sidelinesof the ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting will approve annual action programmesof the member countries and map out orientations for their cooperation in thenext year.

Suchaction programmes focus on economy-trade, human resources development andcoordination mechanism.

TheCLMV Economic Ministers’ Meeting aims to enhance economic, trade and investmentties between the four countries, step up regional integration, improve the roleof CLMV in regional and international production chains, and narrow thedevelopment gap between CLMV and other ASEAN member countries, the departmentsaid./.