On September 21, the Defense and Security Committees of the 3 legislative bodies of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia held the 3rd meeting on "Continuing to enhance parliamentary oversight roles and responsibilities of their respective committees/ commission in evaluating the progress and promoting socio-economic development and security in support of the development triangle area of Cambodia - Laos- Vietnam, Contributing to the development of Robust Asian Community"...
On September 21, the Defense and Security Committees of the 3 legislative bodies of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia held the 3rd meeting on “Continuing to enhance parliamentary oversight roles and responsibilities of their respective committees/ commission in evaluating the progress and promoting socio-economic development and security in support of the development triangle area of Cambodia - Laos- Vietnam, Contributing to the development of Robust Asian Community.”
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| Posing for a commemorative picture at the meeting. |
Present at the event were Do Ba Ty, Vice- Chairman of Vietnam National Assembly; Vo Trong Viet, Head of Vietnam National Assembly’s Defense & Security Committee; Kham suc viin Tha Vong; Laos National Assembly’s Defense & Security Committee; Hun Neng, Head of Cambodia National Assembly’s Home Affairs Committee, National Defense and Public Affairs; and Khanh Hoa leaders represented by Le Duc Vinh, Deputy Secretary of Khanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee, Provincial People’s Committee Chairman.
Cambodia – Laos - Vietnam Development Triangle Area is a border junction area of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The scope of the Development Triangle Area is constituted by 13 provinces, including 5 in Vietnam.
The cooperation in the Development Triangle Area has proved effective regarding the fields of trade and economics. The Vietnam-Laos trade revenue reached USD 443 million USD and Vietnam-Cambodia trade revenue reached USD1.3 billion in the first 6 months of 2016.
At present, Vietnam has 48 projects at a total capital of more than USD2.3 billion in Cambodia. Most of the projects are in agricultural sectors and rubber tree cultivation; 61 projects at a total capital of USD2.29 billion in Laos, focusing on mining, processing, electricity generation and construction industries.
One of the challenges to the development cooperation is transport disadvantages in the area. Therefore, the three partners suggested infrastructure improvement to facilitate trade link and cooperation among business communities of the 3 countries.
Representatives also discussed about security maintenance at border areas of each province and issues related to the sustainable management, exploitation and use of transnational water sources, including the Mekong River, aiming to protect the water sources and contribute to the sustainable socio-economic development and environmental protection.
At the meeting, participants reached agreement on 8 contents recorded in the minutes of the meeting. They included the acceleration of cooperation, especially in legislation and supervision; timely exchange of information in order to direct authorized agencies of each nation to deal with issues relating to national defense, security and crime prevention and control in border areas; acceleration of border demarcation and marker planting works, boost of monitoring at border gates, construction of borderlines of peace, friendship, stability and development co-operation; enhancement of governments and officials' cooperation and exchange of experience and information about crime prevention and control, etc.
Speaking at the event, Do Ba Ty, Vice Chairman of Vietnam’s National Assembly, stressed the position and importance of the development triangle area towards three countries, contributing to the ASEAN community development. The outcome of the meeting will boost the roles of National Assembly Committees of the 3 countries in law-making, monitoring and supervising the government and authorities of each country in the implementation of the memorandum of understanding signed at the eighth Development Triangle Area Summit held in Vientiane, Laos in November 2014.
Thanh Nam
Translated by N.T
