Leaders of Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam sign Joint Statement

On November 25, in the capital Vientiane, Laos, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Lao Prime Minister Thongsinh Thammavong and Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen signed a Joint Statement on cooperation in the CLV Development Triangle Area and agreed to organize the CLV-9 Development Triangle Area Summit in the Kingdom of Cambodia in 2016.Nghe An Newspaper respectfully introduces the full text of the joint statement.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen signed a Joint Statement.

"WE, the Heads of Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam (hereinafter referred to as CLV), gather in Vientiane, Lao PDR on 25 November 2014 to attend the Eighth Cambodia-Laos-Viet Nam (CLV) Development Triangle Summit.

RECALLING the establishment of the CLV Development Triangle Area is aimed at optimizing the enormous potentials to complement the countries in improving the quality of life of people in the Development Triangle Area.

REAFFIRMING our commitment to further strengthening and deepening comprehensive cooperation and development among CLV countries on the basis of traditional friendship, solidarity, comprehensive cooperation and good neighborliness;

RECOGNIZING the progress and challenges in implementing the Revised Master Plan for Socio-Economic Development of the CLV Development Triangle Area for the 2010-2020 period since the 7th CLV Development Triangle Area Summit in 2013.

DEEPLY AWARE of the urgent need to promote economic growth in the CLV Development Triangle area to reduce poverty and reduce economic and social development disparities through better use of internal resources of CLV countries and mobilizing financial and technical support from Japan, development partners and international organizations.

WE DECLARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. We reaffirm our commitment to closely coordinate in enhancing cooperation in the CLV Development Triangle Area (DLTA) on the basis of the traditional friendship, mutual understanding, trustworthy, comprehensive and long-term cooperation among the three countries.

2. We commend the work and efforts of the CLV Coordination Committee in implementing the Revised Master Plan for Socio-Economic Development of the CLV Development Triangle Area for the 2010-2020 period and highly appreciate the results of the 9th Joint Coordination Committee Meeting and related meetings held from 10-12 September 2014 in Siem Reap, Kingdom of Cambodia.

3. We welcome the decision of the CLV Coordinating Committee to hold the Coordinating Committee Meeting every two years, while maintaining the frequency of SOM and Sub-Committees meetings and related activities. We also emphasize that the CLV TGPT cooperation mechanism needs to ensure effective and timely identification of urgent issues related to the implementation of the Master Plan and investment and business activities of the business community.

4. We agreed to strengthen cooperation to narrow the development gap among ASEAN countries, including the effective and timely building of the ASEAN Community.

5. We highly appreciate the results of the Trade, Investment and Tourism Promotion Conference held on 9 September 2014 in Siem Reap, Kingdom of Cambodia and encourage the private sector, as a driving force for economic growth, to actively participate in events promoting trade, investment and tourism of CLV countries to attract more capital flows in trade, investment and tourism to the CLV Development Triangle area.

6. We reaffirm the importance of ensuring security, safety and a stable environment for investors and residents in the Development Triangle through enhanced cooperation in combating human trafficking, drug trafficking, cross-border crimes, and the clearance of landmines and explosive remnants of war. We also call on relevant authorities to closely coordinate in organizing exchange programs to address the above issues.

7. We agreed to implement bilateral and multilateral agreements on the movement of people and goods in the Development Triangle, in particular the Cross-Border Transport Agreement (CBTA) within the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). In this regard, we were pleased to note the progress in preparations for the full implementation of the “Single Window, One Stop” inspection model within the GMS East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) at the international border gate pair of Densavan (Laos) - Lao Bao (Viet Nam) in early 2015, considering this a model for application to other border gate pairs in the Development Triangle. We welcomed Cambodia - Laos - Viet Nam to conduct a survey and exchange experiences in implementing the “Single Window, One Stop” inspection mechanism at the international border gate of Lao Bao - Densavan.

8. We acknowledge the report on the Cambodia - Laos - Vietnam Rubber Industry Development Plan developed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam and assign the Agriculture Ministers of the CLV countries to continue discussing and finalizing this report to submit to the 10th Joint Coordination Committee meeting for consideration.

9. We reaffirm our commitment to environmental protection and the effective use and management of natural resources for the sustainable development of our respective countries and the Development Triangle. In this regard, we encourage local authorities and relevant agencies to include environmental and sustainable development issues in the cooperation agenda of the three countries; and to develop joint cooperation programmes in areas such as land management, hydrometeorology, climate change response, water resources management and geology.

10. We task the CLV Joint Coordination Committee to continue implementing the revised Memorandum of Understanding on Special Incentive Policies to create a favorable environment for investment and business in the Development Triangle Area and to develop the CLV Development Triangle Tourism Development Plan to submit to the 9th CLV Summit; continue to study the possibility of combining bilateral and multilateral agreements signed between the three countries into a CLV Agreement with the aim of further attracting trade, investment, tourism as well as mobilizing financial support from Japan, other development partners and international organizations. We propose that the CLV Joint Coordination Committee report on the progress of the study at the 9th CLV Summit in 2016. We task relevant agencies of each country to proactively organize public-private dialogue activities to identify obstacles for businesses and respond to the legitimate requests of businesses operating in the Development Triangle Area.

11. In order to bring more benefits to the people of the three countries, we also assigned the CLV Joint Coordination Committee to establish a Working Group to: (i) Study the possibility of expanding the scale of cooperation in the CLV Development Triangle area to propose constructive recommendations on untapped resources and areas with development potential in the CLV Development Triangle area; (ii) Develop and prioritize priority projects of the three CLV countries to meet the objectives of the Revised Master Plan for Socio-Economic Development of the CLV Development Triangle area; (iii) Organize trade fairs and tourism promotion, investment attraction and youth forums as well as development partner forums in the CLV Development Triangle area; (iv) Mobilize capital from Japan and development partners and international organizations to implement the above-mentioned priority projects of the three CLV countries, including infrastructure development. We welcome Vietnam for hosting the CLV Development Triangle Area Development Partnership Forum in Dak Lak Province, Vietnam in April 2014.

12. We sincerely thank the Government and people of Japan for their continuous contributions to the socio-economic development of the CLV Development Triangle and highly appreciate the statement made by the Japanese Leaders at the 6th Mekong-Japan Summit on 12 November 2014 in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, on Japan's continued development assistance to the CLMV countries and the CLV Development Triangle. We also thank other development partners and international financial institutions for their continuous contributions to the development of the CLV Development Triangle. In this regard, we propose a list of priority cooperation projects in the CLV Development Triangle to call for financial support from development partners, especially Japan, and international financial institutions to receive financial and technical assistance.

13. In order to expand and elevate economic cooperation among the CLV countries to a new level, we agreed to promote infrastructure, institutional and people-to-people connectivity among the three countries. In this regard, we tasked the Joint Steering Committee to develop action plans on connectivity as soon as possible and submit them to the 9th CLV Development Triangle Summit.

14. We agreed to hold the 9th CLV Development Triangle Summit in the Kingdom of Cambodia in 2016.

Done in Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic, in triplicate in the English language, this twenty-fifth day of November two thousand and fourteen."./.