“Mekong - Lancang cooperation and regional cooperation opportunities” Workshop

On the morning of March 18, the Diplomatic Academy of Viet Nam collaborated with the Chinese Embassy in Ha Noi to co-host the “Mekong - Lancang cooperation and regional cooperation opportunities” Workshop. This Workshop is included in a chain of activities to celebrate Mekong - Lancang Cooperation (MLC) Week, which takes place at the end of March annually. The Workshop drew the attendance of more than 50 delegates from the Chinese Institute of International Studies, representatives of Ministries, industries, research institutes in Ha Noi, and press agencies in Viet Nam and China.

This Workshop is an opportunity for the Diplomatic Academy of Viet Nam and the Chinese Institute of International Studies, as representatives of the Global Center for Mekong Studies in the two countries, to exchange constructive comments to deepen and stabilize cooperation within the framework of MLC. This is also an occasion for countries to promote and enhance their citizens’ understanding of this cooperating mechanism and will accordingly explore the possibility of fostering regional cooperation and MLC prospects in the future.

The Workshop’s discussions revolved around such issues as: (i) China’s Belt and Road Initiative; (ii) the United States-China economic conflict; and (iii) the Mekong - Lancang Cooperation. Speaking to chair the Workshop, Assistant for Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Van Thao affirmed that three years since its establishment, MLC had had several active activities, moving cooperation from the warm-up phase to the development one. Viet Nam affirmed that it always had highly valued and actively partook in the formation of a cooperation framework since the first days of establishment with several proposed cooperation ideas. Keeping up that spirit, Nguyen Van Thao expressed his desire that the Workshop will connect specialists about the Mekong, bring forward substantive initiatives, and contribute to navigating the activities of MLC in the future.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China, Xiong Bo, affirmed the close link in terms of geography, economy, and culture of 6 MLC member states Mekong-Lancang river. MLC has turned initiatives into reality with active activities on economic cooperation, infrastructure connectivity, and development, cultural, education, and medical exchange, aiming towards goals of openness, sincerity, equality, inclusivity, and mutual support. Viet Nam plays an indispensable role in MLC, with many cooperative potentials about manufacturing, agriculture, and water source management,…

At the Workshop, speakers and delegates presented and discussed such different aspects of MLC as economic cooperation, water resources, infrastructure construction, people-to-people exchanges, as well as proposed specific solutions to enhance the efficiency of collaboration. In addition, the implementation and coordination of Mekong-Lancang cooperation and other regional cooperation still have many limitations, such as lack of diversity in the capital, no specific mechanism to execute collaboration on water resources and primary principles on the use of water, no connection between Mekong - Lancang cooperation with current mechanisms... Delegates stressed the importance of effective use of water because this is a cross-cutting issue, with a significant and direct impact on citizens, the environment, and other cooperative aspects, especially for a downstream Mekong country like Viet Nam.