The agreement was reached on March 12 in Vientiane at the 6th CLMV Summit which was chaired by Lao PM Thongsing Thammavong and attended by Cambodian PM Hun Sen, Myanmar Vice President Mauk Kham, Vietnamese PM Nguyen Tan Dung and ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh.

CLMV leaders stressed their commitment to strengthening the traditional friendship and common benefits between the four countries.

They reviewed projects and action programmes implemented since the 5th CLMV Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in 2010, and discussed future cooperation orientations to narrow the development gap between the four countries and other ASEAN members to build an ASEAN Community by 2015.

Leaders hailed the efforts of CLMV economic ministers to fulfil most of the cooperation projects in the 2011-2012 CLMV Action Plan, and efforts of tourism ministers to build a common tourism strategy for the 2013-2015 period, as well as successes in trade-investment cooperation, including the implementation of the “One door – One stop” model at the Lao Bao (Viet Nnam) – Densavan (Laos) international border gate.

Leaders at the summit expressed their thanks to the Vietnamese Government for its scholarships and support in vocational training and human resource development to Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

In the time to come, the four countries will focus on intensifying cooperation in trade, investment and tourism, and timely implement the ASEAN Community’s establishment roadmap and the ASEAN master plan on connectivity to accelerate integration with in the association. They will develop transport links among the four countries and make the full use of regional corridors, including the East-West Economic Corridor, the North-South Corridor and the South Corridor, as well as speed up the implementation of a multilateral agreement on aviation services.

Addressing the event, PM Dung proposed the four countries accelerate regional integration, consolidate and improve their role in regional and global production chains, and narrow the development gap between them and other ASEAN countries. 

He highlighted the Vietnamese Government's strong commitment to CLMV cooperation and hoped that the four countries’ governments continue working closely to implement cooperation programmes in the future.

Each country needs to strive for the improvement of the investment-business environment, and strictly follow signed agreements and commitments on trade and investment within bilateral and multilateral frameworks, he said.

Priority should be given to human resource training and cooperation with international organisations and development partners, he added.

The next CLMV Summit will be held in Myanmar in 2014./.

By Kim Anh