Singapore (VNA) – Six countries ofthe Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC), namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand,Vietnam and India, have agreed to enhance cooperation in managing andsustainably using water resources.

Foreign ministers of the MGC countries reachedthe consensus at their ninth meeting on August 2 within the framework of the51st ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and related meetings in Singapore.

They also agreed to bolster cooperation inagriculture, tourism, culture, transport, businesses, and health care.

Joint activities proposed at the meetingincluded building a joint data centre at Nalanda University in India, aconference on rice germplasm, training activities, tourism promotion, andMGC trade fairs.

The MGC Ministerial Meeting also recognisedIndia’s wish to cooperate with the Mekong River Commission, particularly insharing experience in collecting water resources data, and the proposal to organisethe first meeting on management and sustainable use of water resources in NewDelhi this year.

Addressing the event, Vietnamese Deputy PrimeMinister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh stressed that the two sides’cooperation potential remains huge.

He suggested the MGC nations focus theircooperation on enhancing connectivity, especially expanding the East-WestEconomic Corridor and the Southern Economic Corridor to India and theIndia-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, andstarting talks on a land transport agreement. 

He also called on them to facilitate trade,cooperate in customs clearance and quarantine, and foster partnership inenvironmental issues, climate change response, flood and natural disaster management,and management of water resources.

At the end of the meeting, the ministers adopteda joint statement and agreed to hold the 10th MGC Ministerial Meeting inThailand in 2019. –VNA