WEF-Mekong discusses regional dynamic, sustainable and harmonious development

PANO – The World Economic Forum on the Mekong region (WEF-Mekong) was held for the first time on October 25 at the National Convention Center in Hanoi with the aim of promoting the region’s potentials across the global entrepreneur community.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc delivering a speech at the forum

The forum was also expected to foster new initiatives and chances for cooperation among world-class corporations and prestigious businesses in the region, contributing to investment attraction, human resources development and connectivity enhancement in the Mekong region.

Addressing the forum, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc stressed that the Mekong is a dynamically-developing region in Asia comprising rapidly-growing economies thanks to reforms and international integration. According to an IMF report, the Mekong region includes four out of 25 most rapidly developing countries in the world in 2015. Among the regional countries, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar enjoyed the growth rates of more than 7% and Vietnam, 6.7% while Thailand is actively recovering from downturn.

The Mekong region is an important point of connectivity in Asia, a potential market with a population of 240 million people and the combined GDP of USD 660 billion. The advent of the ASEAN Community at the end of 2015 and the expansion of transport corridor networks and economic connections in the region have opened up a vast development space for businesses and investors. The Vietnamese Prime Minister also held that the Mekong region is facing quite a few challenges, including “the big development disparity among economies in ASEAN, the decrease in the advantage of low-cost labor, and faster developments of climate change.”

ASEAN leaders earlier adopted the 2015 Vision with the orientation for the building of a self-resilient, dynamically and sustainably-developing, and closely-knit community. During that process, countries in the Mekong region have defined the goal to develop into a region of peace, political stability and security, dynamic and connected in economic development, sustainable in environment protection and harmonious in society development. To realize the goal, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc stressed that countries in the Mekong region and partners should pay attention to economic connection, trade cooperation promotion, investment and tourism, innovation and creativeness, improvement of competitiveness, and sustainable development.

Sharing the Vietnamese Prime Minister’s view, Myanmar President Htin Kyaw held that political will serves as the key for the Mekong region countries to strengthen economic connection. He said, “I call on the Mekong region countries to work closely together on the basis of the regional synergy and solidarity for the common goal of sustainable development, ensuring that this is the agenda of the people, by the people and for the people.”

Emphasizing that the potential and advantages of the region can only be tapped if the Mekong region countries further strengthen economic integration, Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith said that the Mekong region countries are still facing various challenges due to low economic starting point and war consequences.

For his part, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said that to realize the vision for the Mekong region development, five countries in the region, namely Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar must firstly focus on the maintenance of peace and stability.

Sharing the same view, Thai Deputy Prime Minister of Somkid Jatusripitak held that in order to optimize potential, the countries in the Mekong region should pay attention to both “hard” and “soft” infrastructure.

Themed “Mekong region development: Investment in infrastructure, human resources and connectivity”, the forum comprises five meetings discussing issues on development and integration of the countries in the Mekong region such as vision, orientation for development, mobilization of resources for infrastructure development, trade facilitation, investment, tourism, promotion of industrialization and sustainable development in the Mekong region.

At the forum, the Regional Business Council (RBC) was launched, consisting of 25 ASEAN and 30 global businesses. The RBC will play the leading role in proposing initiatives in strengthening cooperation and confidence between businesses and governments with focus laid on infrastructure construction, transnational trade and investment within ASEAN, development of a digital economy, job creation and promotion of inclusive growth.