Lancang-Mekong Cooperation contributes to socio-economic development in sub-region: Cambodian officials

The Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) has helped bolster the economies and social development of the sub-regional countries and enhance the well-being of their people, Cambodian officials said on Tuesday.

Kem Gunawadh, secretary of state at the Ministry of Information, said the six LMC countries, namely China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, share cultural similarities, enjoy profound traditional good neighborliness and friendship, and have closely intertwined security and development interests.

"The LMC has also supported the building of the ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) community and promoted the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," he said during the opening ceremony of a hybrid forum on the Role of Journalists on Shared River, Shared Future.

The LMC focuses on three cooperation pillars, namely public policy and security, economic and sustainable development, and people-to-people exchanges, Gunawadh said, adding that the LMC's five priority areas are connectivity, production capacity, cross border economic cooperation, water resources, and agriculture and poverty reduction.

Mam Dathalineth, an advisor to the Ministry of Information, said 2022 marks the sixth anniversary of the LMC and that this regional mechanism has played an important role in building a community with a shared future of peace and prosperity in the sub-region.

Sponsored by the LMC Special Fund, the half-day forum was physically and virtually attended by some 50 people.

Originating from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China, the river is called the Lancang River in China and the Mekong River when it flows through the lower reaches before emptying into the sea. ■