Prime Minister proposes to develop regulations for operating inter-reservoirs on the Lancang-Mekong River

This MLC Conference was attended by Heads of Government and Senior Leaders of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, China and Vietnam.

With the theme “Our River of Peace and Sustainable Development”, the Conference reviewed the implementation of cooperation since the first Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Summit (March 2016) and discussed future cooperation directions.

The conference assessed that after two years of operation, the Mekong-Lancang cooperation has made important progress in both building operating mechanisms and implementing specific projects.

Some notable key results include: Completing many early harvest projects, establishing cooperation centers on environment, water resources and Mekong research; forming and operating the MLC Special Fund.

Regarding cooperation in the coming time, the leaders reaffirmed the goal of building a peaceful, stable, sustainably developed and prosperous Mekong-Lancang region; agreed that the MLC needs to contribute more actively to the region's socio-economic development, narrow the development gap between member countries and support the building of the ASEAN Community.

MLC cooperation also needs to coordinate harmoniously with development programs/plans such as the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC), the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI), the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as regional connectivity initiatives.

The leaders adopted the Phnom Penh Declaration and the MLC Five-Year Action Plan for the 2018-2022 period with major orientations and measures to implement cooperation on three pillars: security-politics; economy and sustainable development; society, culture and people-to-people exchange.

On that basis, specialized working groups will develop separate action plans for priority areas including water resources, agriculture and poverty reduction, connectivity, production capacity cooperation and cross-border economic cooperation.

The leaders welcomed the list of 214 MLC projects proposed by member countries and agreed to gradually expand cooperation to major sub-regional projects on the basis of making the most of the MLC Special Fund and financial resources mobilized from the government, the private sector and international financial institutions.

Regarding water resources cooperation, the leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation in the management and sustainable use of water resources through activities such as: Policy dialogue (such as the regular organization of the MLC Water Resources Cooperation Forum); building and improving a water quality monitoring system; sharing hydrological information and data; technical cooperation, implementing joint research and pilot projects related to Mekong-Lancang water resources; capacity building in water management; cooperation in flood and drought management and research on early establishment of communication lines in emergency situations.

The leaders also agreed to promote environmental cooperation, paying special attention to minimizing environmental risks in economic cooperation, and promoting cooperation in research and technology in the fields of environment and agriculture.

Speaking at the Conference, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc affirmed Vietnam's respect and contribution to MLC cooperation in recent times; at the same time, he emphasized the important principles and goals that cooperation needs to ensure in order to actively contribute to the socio-economic development of member countries, promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the region. Regarding cooperation in the next 5 years, the Prime Minister emphasized three contents.

First, focus on enhancing cooperation in protecting, managing and using the Mekong River water resources effectively and sustainably, making water resources cooperation a focus of cooperation among the six countries. Immediate priorities include enhancing the sharing of hydrometeorological information and data; cooperating in responding to droughts and floods; conducting joint scientific research; and studying and developing regulations for the operation of inter-reservoirs along the Lancang-Mekong River.

Second, develop a complete and connected infrastructure system to facilitate the circulation of goods, services, capital flows and people's travel.

Third, support Mekong-Lancang countries to take advantage of opportunities from the 4.0 industrial revolution on the basis of: (i) Sharing experience, knowledge and technology to promote industrialization in member countries; (ii) developing a business force and training quality workers; attracting resources towards infrastructure development and creating conditions for projects to promote potential, strengths, and create jobs for people; (iii) strengthening cooperation in research and technology transfer for agricultural development, especially the development of high-tech organic agriculture.

The proposals and contributions of the Vietnamese delegation were highly appreciated by member countries and reflected in the documents of the Conference.

At the Conference, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and other leaders attended a joint press conference to announce the results of the Conference and visited the Mekong-Lancang Achievements Photo Exhibition.

At the end of the Conference, the Cambodian Prime Minister officially transferred the role of co-chair of MLC cooperation to the Prime Minister of the Lao PDR.

Duc Tuan