(MPI Portal) – On December 06th, 8th Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) on Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam (CLV) Development Triangle Area was held under the chairmanship of Mr. Cao Viet Sinh, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment of Vietnam, Vietnamese Chief of SOM, Mr. Sorasak PAN, Secretary of State, Ministry of Commerce of Cambodia, Cambodian Chief of SOM and Mr. Bounkeut SANGOMSAK, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Laos, Lao Chief of SOM.
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Vietnamese Chief of SOM, Mr. Cao Viet Sinh, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment at the Meeting.
Photo: Thanh Son (MPI Portal)
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Addressing the opening session, Mr. Cao Viet Sinh said that the past two years, since the 6th CLV Summit held on November 2010 in Phnom Penh, with the collaborative efforts of the three countries, the construction of Development Triangle has achieved important results in many areas, especially in social and economic development; poverty alleviation, security and political stability in the region. However, the cooperation between the three countries has not really made a breakthrough in the socio-economic development of the local areas.
The 8th SOM has the task of evaluating the implementation of the commitments of three Prime Ministers at the Summit in 2010, recognizing achievements, pointing out the difficulties and challenges, proposing methods and directions of cooperation in the coming time in 13 provinces in the region.
Most delegates agreed with the evaluation of CLV Technical Group with the technical support of the Development Strategy Institute, Ministry of Planning and Investment of Vietnam.
Mr. Cao Viet Sinh also appreciated the results achieved in the implementation of the planning process in 13 provinces of the CLV Development Triangle Area and agreed with the recommendations in the planning.
At the Conference, the delegates raised proposals to accelerate the overall planning and a number of important measures to send to the Joint Coordination Committee Meeting, which focuse on key issues such as:
- Submiting the three Prime Ministers of CLV countries to assign the Joint Coordination Committee to review existing bilateral agreements, regional agreements, and memorandums; building an agreement to promote and facilitate trade among Cambodia - Laos - Vietnam countries for CLV Development Triangle Area which would be signed at the Summit 8th CLV;
- Organizing Development Cooperation Conference in 2013 to provide financial support to implement the master plan for the CLV Development Triangle Area;
- Proposing Joint Coordination Committee to assign the competent authorities for transport between the three countries in the CLV Development Triangle Area and create a joint delegation of the three countries to study about model of pairs of border gates Lao Bao - Denxavan to apply to the pairs of border gates Trapeang (Cambodia) - Nong Nok Khiane (Laos) and Trapeang SRE (Cambodia) - Hoa Lu (Vietnam).
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Cambodian Chief of SOM, Mr. PAN Sorasak. Photo: Thanh Son (MPI Portal)
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A summary report was presented by Mr. PAN Sorasak - Cambodian Chief of SOM on the implementation of special policies for the Development Triangle Area signed by the three Ministers in November 2010 in Phnom Penh.
The majority of participants said that the implementation of this particular policies still had some limitations related to good procedure in some border gates; lack of prompt supporting information for prevention of smuggling at some border gates; the under-qualitied infrastructure of some international border gates.
As for cooperation between CLV countries and Japan, after the 3rd CLV Ministerial Conference with Japan in Cebu, Philippines, on January 12th 2007, Japan announced to spend US$ 20 million for the Development Triangle Area. As of now, the projects have been completed and put into use, bringing the first practical results to beneficiaries in the project area.
In addition to US$ 20 million deployed completely. In the 4th Mekong - Japan Economic Minister Meeting, on August 30th 2012, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Economic Minister Meeting in Siem Reap, Cambodia, Vietnam suggested the increasing support for the CLV countries and received the consensus of the parties attend.
In the near future, the Joint Coordination Committee on CLV Development Triangle Area should continue to mobilize funds from Japan to contribute to the development of the hardware infrastructure, trade facilitation and East-West economic corridor.
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Laos Chief of SOM.
Photo: Thanh Son (MPI Portal)
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Related to the operation of Triangle Development Area Portal (address http://clv-development.org), to improve quality and efficiency, the Vietnamese Chief of SOM proposed Cambodia and Laos sides to pay more attention to the regular update of news. In the near future, the responsible groups for the website content of the three countries should regularly exchange and collaborate to ensure various and prompt information to the viewer, especially investors interested in the Development Triangle Area.
The 9th Joint Coordination Committee Meeting, the Sub-Committee Meeting, Meeting of Senior Officials CLV plus Japan and SOM in 2013 will be held in Cambodia. /.