Deputy Prime Minister and Union Minister for Foreign Affairs U Than Swe participated in the 9th Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, which was held on 16 August 2024 in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The 9th Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Foreign Ministers’ Meeting was co-chaired by Mrs Eksiri Pintaruchi, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand and Mr Wang Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of CPC Central Committee, Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China. The heads of delegations of the MLC member countries, Mr Sok Chenda Sophea, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Mr Saleumxay Kommasith, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Ms Nguyen Minh Hang, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam were also present at the meeting.
During the 9th Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the Ministers cordially discussed and exchanged views on the progress and future direction of the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation.
Their discussions focused on promoting the agricultural sector and food security, preserving water resources and the environment, combatting transboundary crimes and enhancing tourism and people-to-people exchanges.
During the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister and Union Minister for Foreign Affairs also updated Myanmar’s cooperation efforts in the MLC to the Heads of Delegation of MLC member countries. In his discussion, he highlighted further enhancing cooperation in agriculture sector development and food security in the region to strengthen multi-model connectivity and deepen cooperation in the areas of law enforcement and combatting transnational crimes, illicit drug trafficking and arms smuggling, online fraud and online gambling. He also stressed the importance of addressing the problem of air pollution, environmental conservation and water resource management.
Permanent Secretary Mrs Eksiri Pintaruchi of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand hosted a welcome dinner on the evening of 15 August 2024 at the Intercontinental Chiang Mai Hotel in honour of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and delegations of MLC member countries to the 9th Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
The Mekong–Lancang Cooperation (MLC) is the regional cooperation mechanism established in 2016, and it comprises six member countries, namely Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The main aim of the MLC is to promote socioeconomic development in the Mekong-Lancang region and to reduce development gaps among MLC member countries. Myanmar has been granted a total of 118 regional development projects through the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Special Fund (MLC-SF) from 2017 to 2024. — MNA
