Senior officials meet to prepare for CLV development triangle meeting
VOV.VN - Senior officials of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam met in Cambodia’s Kratie province on March 9 to prepare for the 12th meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee on the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area (JCC CLV DTA), set to open on March 10.
Cambodian Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Commerce Sok Sopheak, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Le Quang Manh, Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Vu Quang Minh, and Lao Deputy Foreign Minister Thongphan Savanphet were among those in attendance.
In his address, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Le Quang Manh revealed that representatives of the three countries will propose effective measures and practical initiatives to the heads of the three coordination committees at their meeting on March 10, paving the way for high-level agreements and specific directions to foster development cooperation in the development triangle.
Cooperation projects in the border areas of the three nations, especially in hydropower, mining and mineral processing, industrial crop planting and processing, have been underway, he noted.
Vietnam has had 49 projects totally capitalized at US$1.63 billion in the development triangle in Cambodia so far and its investment in the development triangle in Laos stands at US$1.97 billion with 67 projects.
Meanwhile, Vietnam’s five border provinces in the development triangle have drawn 233 projects from 20 countries and territories with a total investment of US$2.3 billion, said Manh.
However, Manh pointed out that transport upgrade and expansion projects in the region have been behind the schedule, while the tripartite cooperation has yet to put effective influence on socio-economic development in border localities, alongside limited resources for development investment and shortcomings in trade cooperation, tax policies and investment procedures.
The Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area was established in 1999 with the initial membership of 10 provinces: Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dak Nong (Vietnam); Sekong, Attapeu, Saravan (Laos); and Rattanakiri, Mondulkiri (Cambodia). Vietnam’s Binh Phuoc province, Laos’ Champasak province and Kratie of Cambodia were added into the group in 2009.
The CLV Development Triangle’s focused areas cover security-diplomacy, transport, industry, agriculture, trade, investment, social affairs, and environmental protection.
The group is designed to reinforce solidarity and cooperation among the three countries and ensure security, political stability as well as boosst poverty reduction and socio-economic development in the area.
Vietnam is about to dispatch representatives of Dak Nong, Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Kon Tum and Binh Phuoc provinces as well as a number of ministries to the 12th meeting of the JCC CLV DTA,
The meeting will focus on evaluating the implementation of commitments of ministers of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia at the previous meeting, deal with difficulties and seeking solutions as well as orientations for closer cooperation in the development triangle.