10 Dec
Myanmar takes over CLMV Chairmanship from Laos for next 2 years
U Win Myint, President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar participated in the 9th Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) Summit and the 10th Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Viet Nam Cooperation (CLMV) Summit held via videoconference at 8:00 am yesterday from the President Office in Nay Pyi Taw.
9th ACMECS Summit
The 9th Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) Summit was chaired by Mr Samdech Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia with the participation of Mr Thongloun Sisoulith, Prime Minister of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mr Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand and Mr Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.
During the meeting, the leaders reviewed and cordially exchanged views on the implementation of the ACMECS Master Plan (2019-2023) and the future direction of ACMECS.
In his statement, President U Win Myint welcomed the considerable progress ACMECS has made during its 17-year journey towards the regional socio-economic development by successfully overcoming the challenges with the spirit of solidarity based on the traditional friendship and mutual understanding. He highlighted that despite having geographical advantages for development, the momentum for the development and prosperity of the Mekong sub-region has been hindered by non-traditional and other emerging challenges. The President expressed his thanks to Cambodia, Thailand and Viet Nam for their support to Myanmar in the fight against COVID-19. He suggested enhancing cooperation to conduct joint research and production of COVID-19 vaccine and medicine for treatment, and addressing other challenges, including climate change, human and drug trafficking, arms trafficking and terrorism under the ACMECS cooperation.
The President underscored the importance of the tourism sector in the post-pandemic recovery and the implementation of the “Plan of Action on ACMECS Tourism Cooperation (2019-2023)” for speedy economic recovery of the region. He also stressed the need for upgrading transport infrastructure in line with the context of the New Normal, harmonization of health guidelines and procedures at the points of entry, and promotion the digital economy to maintain regional supply chain and to respond to the 4th Industrial Revolution.
The President welcomed the growing interest of countries and institutions around the world to become the Development Partners of ACMECS, in addition to the ACMECS’s official Development Partners of Australia, China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea and United States, and congratulated Thailand for taking up the responsibility of a coordinator. He also appreciated Thailand’s initiative of formulating ACMECS Funding Mechanism and its commitment to contribute 200 million USD to the ACMECS Development Fund, which is designed to strengthen self-reliance of ACMECS member states in implementing the ACMECS Master Plan.
The meeting adopted the Phnom Penh Declaration of the 9th Ayeyawady- Chao Phraya- Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) Summit.
10th CLMV Cooperation Summit
Afterwards, President U Win Myint attended the 10th Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Viet Nam Cooperation (CLMV) Summit held via video link. The Summit was chaired by Mr Thongloun Sisoulith, Prime Minister of Lao PDR with the participation of Prime Minister of Cambodia and Prime Minister of Viet Nam.
At the meeting, the leaders cordially exchanged views on the progress and future cooperation of CLMV, and endorsed the “Framework for CLMV Development” which is a unifying strategy for CLMV countries to achieve sustainable upper middle-income economy by 2030.
In his statement, the President highlighted that the CLMV cooperation has been able to assist its member states for the socio-economic development and the ASEAN Integration process. He stressed the need to have a better planning and close coordination in a balanced manner between health concern and socio-economic priorities in order to rebuild the societies and the economy in the post COVID-19 era, and welcomed the formulation of the “CLMV Action Plan (2021-2022)” which contains a specific provision on COVID-19 pandemic recovery.
Furthermore, the President highlighted the need for restoration of connectivity in the context of New Normal which is vital for the reopening of regional economy, and promotion of the digital economy to address the economic uncertainties caused by the COVID-19. He suggested filling in missing linkages at the economic corridors in the Mekong region to facilitate smooth flow of essential goods and services in the long term. He added that promotion of tourism cooperation should also be focused in the efforts for regional economic recovery in the post-COVID-19 period.
The meeting adopted the Joint Statement of the 10th Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Viet Nam Cooperation (CLMV) Summit.
After the session, Lao PDR handed over the Chairmanship of CLMV to Myanmar. In his acceptance speech, President U Win Myint affirmed Myanmar’s commitment to do discharge the duties of Chairmanship with great diligence to collectively address the challenges and to deliver greater benefits to all peoples in the sub-region. Myanmar will assume the Chairmanship of CLMV for a tenure of two years.
U Kyaw Tin, Union Minister for International Cooperation, Permanent Secretaries of the President Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Senior Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were also present at the Summits.
MNA
