Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn delivers a speech during the launching ceremony of the National Secretariat of Cambodia for Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Oct. 10, 2017. (Xinhua/Sovannara)
Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn said on Tuesday that the Southeast Asian nation saw the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) as an important comprehensive sub-regional cooperation framework in political, economic and socio-cultural aspects.
LMC was established in 2015 by six countries, namely China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
"Politically, it binds the destiny of six riparian countries that share geographically a sub-region located along the Mekong River," Sokhonn said during the launching ceremony of the National Secretariat of Cambodia for LMC in Phnom Penh.
He said within a short-time span of just two years, the strong political engagement of the leaders of six Lancang-Mekong countries had brought about the realization of an idea conceived in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar during the 17th China-ASEAN Summit into a thriving full-fledged cooperation mechanism.
The Cambodian top diplomat said the five priority areas under the LMC included connectivity, production capacity, cross-border economic cooperation, water resources, agriculture and poverty reduction.
Commenting on the National Secretariat of Cambodia for LMC, Sokhonn said so far, all six Lancang-Mekong countries had officially established their National Secretariats or Coordination Units to further strengthen the MLC mechanism.
"Its primary role is to serve as a coordinating body among the line ministries and institutions for all matters related to the implementation of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation," he said.
Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Xiong Bo said the establishment of LMC truly reflected the common will of the six countries in further expanding cooperation and accelerating common development.
"We believe that the LMC will elevate the relationship of the six Lancang-Mekong countries to a new high," he said at the launching event, which was also attended by ambassadors or representatives of other Lancang-Mekong countries in Cambodia.
Xiong said the LMC would significantly contribute to building a community with common destiny for the Lancang-Mekong countries in particular and for the ASEAN-China in general.
