The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted the commemorative ceremony of the eighth Anniversary of Mekong-Lancang Cooperation (MLC) at KMA Nay Pyi Taw Hotel yesterday.
General Mya Tun Oo, Deputy Prime Minister and Union Minister for Transport and Communications, U Than Swe, Deputy Prime Minister and Union Minister for Foreign Affairs, Union Ministers from MLC Special Fund Projects Implementation Ministries, the Chairman of Nay Pyi Taw Council, ambassadors and representatives from the embassies of Mekong-Lancang Cooperation member countries, deputy ministers and senior officials attended the commemorative event.
At the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister and Union Minister for Foreign Affairs U Than Swe delivered a commemorative speech. In doing so, he cherished how the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation was launched and expressed his profound gratitude to all the Member Countries, in particular to the People’s Republic of China. He also expressed his appreciation to the relevant Ministries of Myanmar, which have contributed to the successful outcomes of MLC Cooperation.
On top of that, the Deputy Prime Minister also highlighted that the Mekong River is a transboundary river that provides benefits to six MLC countries equally and harmoniously as a major source of food and income for the people residing along the Mekong River. He added that while sharing the benefits, MLC counties are also responsible for protecting and promoting the future of the Mekong River. He underscored that, nowadays, MLC can be considered the most successful one among many cooperation mechanisms in the Mekong region. The Deputy Prime Minister recalled that MLC was born on 23 March 2016, and he praised the wisdom of the MLC Leaders’ decision to establish MLC, aiming for the peace and prosperity of the people from the Mekong Region. He expressed his thanks to China for setting up and contributing US$300 million to the MLC Special Fund.
The Deputy Prime Minister highlighted the significant contribution of Myanmar during MLC Co-Chairmanship, together with China, from August 2020 to December 2023, which includes jointly holding three Ministerial Meetings and the successful adoption of three important documents: “Nay Pyi Taw Declaration”, “Five-Year Plan of Action on MLC (2023 to 2027)” and “Joint Initiatives on MLC Innovation Corridor Development” at the 4th MLC Leaders’ Meeting. He also emphasized the importance of the MLC Special Fund provided by China, which resulted in the socio-economic development of Myanmar by supporting US$31.6 million from the year 2017 to 2023 for the implementation of 106 Special Fund Projects.
The Deputy Prime Minister reaffirmed Myanmar’s strong commitment to work closely with all MLC members further to strengthen the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation mechanism in the coming years. In addition, he congratulated Ambassador Mr Chen Hai of the People’s Republic of China to Myanmar for contributing an article on MLC, which was published recently in Myanmar Daily Newspapers.
Mr Chen Hai, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Myanmar, also delivered a speech. In his speech, he highlighted that LMC was first proposed at the ASEAN-China Summit in Nay Pyi Taw ten years ago, and it was officially launched in March 2016. The ambassador added that over the past eight years, the LMC Countries have made improvements in the region’s railways, roads, airports, ports, pipelines, and power grids. He further pointed out that the closer connectivity has speeded up regional economic, trade and people-to-people exchanges. The ambassador emphasized that the LMC Special Fund has supported over 700 livelihood projects in the LMC region. He stressed that during the last year, the economy of China contributed one-third of global growth at a rate of 5.2 per cent. He also underscored that China’s modernization will bring new opportunities for Myanmar and other Mekong countries and will also add greater impetus to cooperation.
Following this, the commemorative group photo was taken. During the dinner, the cultural troupe from the Fine Arts Department of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture entertained the attendees with cultural performances. Deputy Prime Minister and Union Minister for Ministry of Foreign Affairs U Than Swe and Mr Chen Hai, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Myanmar, together with ambassadors and representatives from MLC embassies, presented gifts to the cultural troupe.
Mekong-Lancang Cooperation was established for the peace, prosperity and sustainable development of peoples from the Mekong-Lancang sub-region, which includes Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam. While tangible developments can be seen during the past eight years, Myanmar has also been reaping fruitful benefits from the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation. — MNA
