Following the success of APEC 2017, in the new year of 2018, Vietnam is privileged to host the GMS-6 with the participation of the leaders of six countries: Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, and the CLV-10 in Hanoi. These are the two multilateral international events of leading importance in Vietnam this year.
As instructed by the PM, Vietnam has proposed an initiative of organising the GMS Business Forum, which has received the consensus from the GMS member countries, and the support from partners such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank (WB), and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). What’s encouraging is the wide-ranging response of the business community, as more than 2,000 domestic and international entrepreneurs have registered to attend, a scale equivalent to that recorded at the APEC CEO Summit 2017. This reflects the entrepreneurial excitement and trust of businessmen and investors in the Governments’ innovative and open policies, as well as in the favourable business opportunities that are opening up in the GMS and CLV regions of huge development potential, as Asia is emerging as a growth driver of the global economy in the 21st century.
Mekong cooperation – promoting regional connectivity
The Mekong region consists of five countries linked by the Mekong River, namely Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. Since the early 1990s, the Mekong cooperation has made significant transformations in the trend of regionalisation and the need to accelerate economic links. In the initial stage, the Mekong cooperation was only concentrated within the riparian countries, but now many new cooperation mechanisms between the Mekong nations and large partners, including the United States, China, Japan, India, and the Republic of Korea, have been established. The interest of the international community and development partners in the Mekong region is due to its strategic location and strong development potential.
The GMS economic cooperation programme, with the support of the ADB, was the first mechanism established in the region in 1992, including the five Mekong countries and China (with the two representative provinces of Yunnan and Guangxi). It serves the goal of promoting and facilitating mutually beneficial economic development among the countries, and developing the Mekong region into a rapidly growing and prosperous region in Southeast Asia.
A number of other cooperation mechanisms have also been established, such as the CLV Development Triangle Area, the Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam (CLMV) cooperation, and the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) between Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, aiming to bridge development gaps, promote the Mekong countries’ deeper integration into the regional economy, and to strengthen cooperation in coping with common challenges. In these mechanisms, the CLV cooperation was established in 1999 with the aim of strengthening solidarity and cooperation, ensuring security and political stability, and accelerating poverty reduction and socio-economic development in the three countries of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
The Mekong cooperation mechanisms have made significant contributions to the development of the region. The Mekong cooperation frameworks, specifically the policy coordination mechanism, are a forum for the Mekong countries to consolidate their trust and enhance dialogues to jointly tackle common challenges on the basis of harmonising the benefits of all parties, which cannot be resolved unilaterally or even bilaterally. In addition, the Mekong cooperation mechanisms, through specific programmes and projects, also practically contributes to promoting regional connectivity, as well as facilitating the economic connectivity process of the Mekong countries, reducing development gaps, and improving the quality of life for their people.
In this process, development partners have played an important role. Within the framework of GMS cooperation, countries and development partners have mobilised approximately US$21 billion for socio-economic development projects in the six member countries. Japan provided roughly YEN1.1 trillion (US$13 billion) for the Mekong countries in the period of 2009-2015, and has disbursed around two thirds of its YEN750 billion (US$6.5 billion) support commitment for the 2016-2018 period. The US provided US$50 million to the Lower Mekong Initiative between 2013-2015 and has pledged another US$1.25 million to launch the Sustainable Infrastructure Partnership Programme (SIP) in the period of 2016-2018. India contributes US$1 million annually to the Quick Impact Projects Fund (QIPF) for CLMV countries and continues to provide scholarships to the Mekong countries. The RoK has pledged an annual contribution of US$1 million to the Mekong-RoK cooperative fund, which is expected to increase by US$2 million in the near future. Recently, China has planned to invest approximately US$10 billion for the subregion, especially in projects connecting North-South traffic. China is also committed to contributing US$300 million to the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Special Fund, along with many other preferential loans and buy-side credits.
In general, the Mekong region is a direct “security and development space" of Vietnam. In addition to contributing to the development of a peaceful and favourable environment in the region, thereby contributing to Vietnam’s stability and development, Mekong cooperation is also being implemented in Vietnam with many specific benefits.
Firstly, Mekong cooperation mechanisms are an important channel for Vietnam to attract resources from its development partners for domestic socio-economic development, contributing to promoting regional growth and links, hunger elimination, and poverty reduction, especially in border areas. As of December 20, 2017, the cooperation projects aimed at the goal of GMS connections in Vietnam reached a scale of approximately US$ 6 billion, accounting for about 30% of the GMS’s total mobilised capital.
The popular names, such as the Ho Chi Minh City - Moc Bai route, the Hai Van road tunnel, the Da Nang port upgrade project, the second Mekong international bridge connecting the Thailand-Laos-Vietnam road to the East Sea, the Kunming-Hai Phong corridor project, the Noi Bai-Lao Cai expressway project, and many other programmes and projects, have brought about practical benefits to the people of Vietnam, within the framework of the Mekong cooperation.
Secondly, Mekong cooperation promotes economic links between Vietnam and other countries in the region. Many important cooperation agreements and common development plans have been signed, contributing to promoting trade and investment ties between the member countries. The socio-cultural cooperation programmes have also helped to facilitate people-to-people exchanges, while strengthening the understanding, affection, and cohesion of the riparian people.
Thirdly, participation in the Mekong cooperation frameworks helps to create an additional dialogue channel between Vietnam and other countries in the Mekong river basin, whilst attracting the financial and technical support from the development partners in terms of the management and sustainable use of the Mekong River water source. In addition to the Mekong River Commission (MRC) channel, Vietnam is also cooperating with other countries in protecting the environment and ensuring the water source security in other Mekong cooperation frameworks.
Vietnam – a proactive and active member
Recognising the importance of the Mekong region, Vietnam has been proactively and actively participating in all Mekong cooperation frameworks, while joining other members to develop effective working mechanisms, while promoting the strength of the participating parties, and meeting the development needs of the region. Vietnam has made outstanding contributions to the Mekong cooperation. Firstly, in the areas of trade and investment, Vietnam has participated in the trade and investment facilitation activities within the GMS framework, including the Strategic Framework for Action on Trade Facilitation and Investment (SFA-TFI), with the main focus on simplifying customs procedures, harmonising sanitary standards to reduce inspection times at border gates, improving the ability to provide logistics services, and simplifying visa procedures for traders in the region.
In addition to cooperation on infrastructure development, Vietnam and the Mekong sub-region countries have completed the signing of all protocols and annexes of the GMS Agreement aiming to facilitate the cross-border transport of people and goods (the CBTA-GMS Agreement). They have also signed a memorandum of understanding on the "Early Harvest" of the CBTA-GMS Agreement. The “one-stop shop” model has been implemented at the Lao Bao-Densavan border gates between Vietnam and Laos since 2015. At present, Vietnam is also negotiating on the pilot of the model at the Moc Bai-Bavet border gates with Cambodia.
Secondly, in terms of cooperation on the environment and water resources management within the Mekong cooperation frameworks, Vietnam has actively cooperated with the other MRC member countries to negotiate and complete the regulations and procedures on sharing data, monitoring the current water use, informing and exchanging views on water use, and maintaining the flows on the Mekong mainstream, in order to concretise the Mekong Agreement and the responsibilities of the countries concerned in the protection of the Mekong River water source.
Within the ACMECS framework, Vietnam was the first country to develop the idea of setting up an environmental working group, drafting an Action Plan, and chairing the working group. Vietnam also plays the leading role in terms of environmental cooperation in the Lower Mekong Initiative, while actively participating in the "A Decade toward the Green Mekong" initiative in Mekong-Japan cooperation. Vietnam has also been actively involved in water resources cooperation under the Mekong-Lancang mechanism. In the GMS, Vietnam has actively participated in the development of the GMS environment protection strategic framework, the building of environmental monitoring and information systems, poverty reduction and environmental management in remote and isolated areas; the management and protection of the saline soils of the Lower Mekong Basin; and the strengthening of institutions and training in terms of environmental protection.
Thirdly, in the field of education and training, Vietnam has sent hundreds of officials to participate in scholarship and training programmes under the subregion cooperation mechanisms in many areas, such as the management of the infrastructure network, project design and appraisal, the development of trade and education management policies, and leadership in development. Vietnam has also participated in the development of a Strategic Framework and Action Plan for Human Resource Development in the GMS between 2009-2012 and 2013-2017, with the view of promoting sustainable human resource development, supporting the implementation of regional initiatives on human resources cooperation, and handling trannsboundary issues on human resources between the GMS countries.
In addition, Vietnam has received many officials and students from Laos and Cambodia to study at the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) University, while supporting the construction of boarding high schools in Sekong (Laos) and Ratanakiri (Cambodia). Under the CLMV mechanism, Vietnam has established a CLMV scholarship fund to provide hundreds of annual scholarships to the three countries of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. This is one of the first 58 key projects to be implemented and one of the outstanding outcomes of the CLMV cooperation mechanism.
Fourthly, Vietnam has not only been a beneficiary but has also made multiple contributions to the Mekong subregion development cooperation in various forms, such as organising conferences and seminars, building important documents, and promoting the financial support initiatives. Vietnam successfully organised the ACMECS-7 and CLMV-8 (October 2016), the second Mekong-Japan Summit, the third Mekong-Japan Ministerial Meeting, the second US-Lower Mekong Ministerial Meeting (2010), and especially the GMS-6 and the CLV-10, scheduled to take place in Hanoi from March 29 to 31, 2018.
Concerning the CLV Development Triangle Area cooperation, Vietnam has worked closely with the other countries to review and develop the Development Triangle Development Plan until 2020, to build a private website for the Development Triangle in four languages (Vietnamese, English, Lao and Khmer), and to support Laos and Cambodia in building a number of main roads linking border provinces. Vietnamese businesses have invested in more than 100 projects, worth over US$3.8 billion, in the Development Triangle area of Laos and Cambodia, with the cooperation motto of combining Vietnam’s capital, technology, and market with the labour fource and land potential of Laos and Cambodia.
The Mekong cooperation mechanisms are of significant importance and match Vietnam’s socio-economic development priorities. With its increasing position and power, as well as its international integration and development experience accumulated over the last 30 years, Vietnam is enjoying better capabilities and conditions to join the Mekong cooperation, thereby serving the country's socio-economic development and contributing to peace, cooperation and development in the region.
