Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam commit to full cooperation

Leaders of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia on Saturday signed a joint declaration at the 10th Development Triangle Area Summit, committing to fully expand cooperation nationally rather than just in border provinces.

The three countries agreed to extend “step by step” the co-operation which would no longer be restricted to the 13 border areas of the triangle, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister of Vietnam told a press conference in Hanoi following the summit.

For the purpose, the leaders approved the Master Plan on Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Economic Connectivity, which outlines the directions for infrastructure, institutional and economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.

“We will improve the institutional and legal connectivity for the sake of people and enterprises, the infrastructure connectivity to facilitate transport, energy, trade and tourism, together with the social infrastructure most favourable for development,” Phuc said.

Phuc and his Cambodian and Lao counterparts, Samdech Hun Sen and Thongloun Sisoulith, also agreed to further cooperate on security issues, including timber smuggling, human and drugs trafficking, transnational crime, and the removal of post-war unexploded ordnance.

The countries will start developing a triangle tourism plan, which is expected to cause a spurt in the tourism growth of the three countries.

“There is a Vietnamese proverb that we brothers heartily endorse: it takes not one but three trees to make a high mountain. I truly believe that with such comprehensive connectivity, the three countries will turn a new page in development in the coming time,” Phuc said.

Editor: John Li