The participation in the third Mekong River Commission (MRC) Summit by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is the affirmation of Vietnam’s care for and strong commitment to the cooperation within the MRC to the spirit of the 1995 Mekong Agreement towards enhancing the agency’s role and the solidarity and cooperation among member countries for mutual interests.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (1st, left) and other delegates at the third MRC Summit. 

On the evening of April 5, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and the high-ranking delegation of the Vietnamese Government landed in Hanoi, successfully wrapping up their trip to attend the third MRC Summit in Siem Reap, Cambodia at the invitation of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Themed “'Enhancing Joint Efforts and Partnerships towards Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in the Mekong River Basin,” the summit reviewed cooperation within the commission and the implementation of commitments made at the second summit in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City in 2014, while identifying priority areas in the next periods to use water resources and other resources in the Mekong River basin in a fair, appropriate and sustainable manner.

At the summit, PM Phuc pointed out that the Mekong River basin countries are dealing with visible, serious consequences of the exhausting water resources of the Mekong River and called for prompt and concrete actions to use the water resources and other related resources sustainably, properly and fairly.

He also called for parties to work together and take actions to ensure the Mekong River will be forever the river of peace, which provides long-lasting, sustainable and wealthy existence for countries and people in the region.

The summit adopted the Siem Rep Declaration which affirms the importance of Mekong cooperation as well as the acceleration of the implementation of the 1995 Mekong Agreement. The document also outlines priority activities of the commission for the next four years and long-term orientations for cooperation within the commission. 

On the sidelines of the summit, PM Phuc had bilateral meetings with Cambodian and Lao counterparts Hun Sen and Thongloun Sisoulith and the head of the Chinese delegation to discuss measures and orientations for bilateral ties. He met with representatives of the Vietnamese community in Siem Reap.

In 1956, the Mekong Committee was established under the auspices of the United Nations to coordinate aid and manage resources in the river basin. In 1995, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam signed an Agreement on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River and set up the Mekong River Commission (MRC), replacing the Mekong Committee.

The MRC holds its summit every four years, starting from 2010. The first MRC summit was held in Hua Hin, Thailand in 2010 and the second one took place in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in 2014.

VNA