AKP Phnom Penh, June 16, 2018 —Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, held a press conference on the outcomes of the 9th Cambodia-Lao PDR-Myanmar-Vietnam (CLMV) Summit at the end of the summit in Bangkok, Thailand this afternoon.
As the Chair of the 9th CLMV Summit, Samdech Techo Hun Sen said the summit was held successfully with the adoption of a joint declaration under theme “For Greater Economic Integration and Connectivity”, according to the Premier’s official Facebook page.
This is the first time that the summit was organised by Thailand, but chaired by Cambodia, he added, thanking profoundly the Thai government for coordinating the summit.
The CLMV leaders recalled the CLMV progress in the past year and discuss how to further harness member countries’ economic potentials and enhance cooperation in priority areas in order to achieve sustainable and inclusive development in the region and promote infrastructure and people-to-people linkages, thereby contributing to the development of the ASEAN community, he said.
According to the Cambodian Prime Minister, the leaders discussed eight priority sectors, including transportation, trade and investment coordination, industry, tourism, human resource development, agriculture, energy, and ICT.
The CLMV summit was initiated by the leaders of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam at the ASEAN-Japan Summit in December 2003 in Tokyo, Japan.
On the occasion, the Heads of State/Government of the four countries agreed to hold the 1st CLMV Summit at the time of the 10th ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos in November 2004.
The main aim of the establishment of CLMV Cooperation is to let CLMV to meet the requirements of Mekong and ASEAN regional integration. In 2003, ASEAN adopted Bali Concord II, affirming its goal to build the ASEAN Community with three pillars, namely ASEAN Security Community (ASC), ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), ASEAN Social and Cultural Community (ASCC).
The biggest hurdle to the ASEAN integration is the development gaps between ASEAN member states, specifically between CLMV and other ASEAN countries. The establishment of CLMV cooperation was originally to narrow the development gaps for the enhancement of integration of CLMV countries into the regional development. CLMV cooperation is an open cooperation mechanism, on the one hand, to exploit the advantages and potentials of CLMV countries, and on the other, to set up a channel to mobilise assistance from other ASEAN countries and partners for CLMV countries. Furthermore, CLMV is also a forum for CLMV countries to coordinate their positions to protect their interests in the economic connectivity within ASEAN and with other partners (China, Japan, Republic of Korea…). CLMV mechanism consists of six areas of cooperation, namely trade and investment, agriculture, industry and energy, transportation, tourism, and human resource development.
By Khan Sophirom
