Phnom Penh (VNA) – Vietnam always treasures and has madesignificant contributions to the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation (MLC) in the pastyear, affirmed Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc while attending the secondMekong-Lancang Cooperation Leaders’ Meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on January10.

Stressing the important principals of the cooperation for the socio-economicdevelopment of member states as well as regional peace, stability andprosperity, the Vietnamese leader underlined stronger collaboration in effectiveand sustainable management and use of Mekong water resources.

Overriding priorities should be given to hydro-meteorological statistics andinformation sharing, cooperation in response to droughts and floods and jointscientific research to construct reservoirs along the Mekong River as well asinfrastructure development to facilitate flows of commodities, services and capital,and local people’s travel, he noticed.

Itis necessary to support member states to take advantages of the fourth industrialrevolution to promote their industrialisation process, he said, adding that effortsshould be made to develop high-quality human resources, enhance research andtechnology transfer in agriculture, especially hi-tech organic development.

With the theme of “Our River of Peace and Sustainable Development”, the meetingdrew the participation of leaders from six members: Cambodia, China, Laos,Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

At the event, they reaffirmed the goal of building a Mekong-Lancang region ofpeace, stability, sustainable development and prosperity. They reachedconsensus that the MLC should contribute more to promoting regionalsocio-economic development, narrowing development gap among member states andsupporting the ASEAN Community building.

The mechanism must be in harmony with programmes and plans like the Master Planon ASEAN Connectivity, the Initiative for ASEAN Integration, the UN’s 2030 Agendafor Sustainable Development, and many other regional connectivity initiatives.

The leaders adopted Phnom Penh statement and MLC action plan during 2018-2022with measures to realise cooperation in three pillars: security-politics;economy and sustainable development; society, culture and people-to-peopleexchange.

They hailed 214 projects proposed by MLC members and agreed to enhance cooperationin management and sustainable use of water resources via an array ofactivities, including policy dialogue, hydro-meteorological statistics andinformation sharing, technical cooperation, joint research and pilot projectsrelated to Mekong water.

Also, they consented to step up environment collaboration, especially inminimising environmental risks in economic activities.

The MLC is asub-regional cooperation mechanism that was jointly established in 2016 by sixcountries along the Mekong River, namely Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar,Thailand, and Vietnam.

The biennial MLCLeaders’ Meeting is organised in rotation among the member countries. Thisyear’s event is co-organised by Cambodia and China. -VNA