Cambodia - Lao - Vietnam Development Triangle

CLV is a border junction area of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, comprising five Vietnamese provinces, and eight Cambodian and Laotian provinces. This area shares similarities in culture, nature and society. This area has a strategic position for three countries in terms of politics, economy, society, defence and security. And, this is also an area with a lot of potentials and strengths for economic development, like industrial crop planting, mineral extraction and processing, and tourism.

 

With the continuous effort and close cooperation of the governments of the three countries in the past time, the CLV Area has achieved a significant progress in socioeconomic development. The GDP growth rate was higher than that of Vietnam. The economic structure is being shifted towards a positive pattern. People's living quality is raised gradually. Infrastructures are upgraded and improved. Interconnecting infrastructures are initially formed and upgraded. Road 18B from Attapeu province (Laos) to Bo Y (Kon Tum province, Vietnam) and Road 78 from Rattanakiri province (Cambodia) to Le Thanh (Gia Lai province, Vietnam) have been upgraded to strengthen economic relations in the region.

 

Investment cooperation activities in the area have been boosted. Currently, the three countries are deploying about 100 investment projects engaged in industrial crop planting and processing, hydropower and mining. Vietnamese businesses are now investing over US$4.3 billion in eight provinces in Cambodia and Laos. Cross-border trade in this area has a relatively good growth.

 

However, despite the effort of localities themselves, the assistance of the Governments and the interest of investors and international donors, this area remains underdeveloped, infrastructure is poor and people’s livelihoods are very difficult. Investment resources are quite limited, mainly based on internal resources of each country. Trade turnover is low and investment projects are being in the initial stage. Human resources are short in number and low in quality. The implementation of the Socioeconomic Development Master Plan and Memorandum of Understanding on Specially Preferential Policies for the Development Triangle Area has not produced desired results. In general, cooperation results have not yet made breakthroughs in local socioeconomic development and narrowed development gaps with each country’s average.

 

To support every province in the area to implement its socioeconomic development tasks and the development of the area as a whole, I would like to recommend my opinions as follows:

 

First, poor transportation infrastructure is one of the major obstacles to the area’s socioeconomic development. This area needs to be invested by various resources. Of course, infrastructure development requires huge investment. Therefore, the area should make a list of projects calling for investment capital where key projects need to have high priorities and preferences.

 

Second, the area needs to pay attention to developing agriculture and the countryside, manufacturing and processing industrial crops, and reducing poverty. Rubber should be considered a priority tree to form large-scaled planting and processing areas. Natural conditions and soil here are also very good for other industrial crops.

 

Third, the area needs to focus on investment for infrastructure development in border economic zones, commercial zones and border markets, create the most favourable conditions for the movement of people and goods across the border between Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, and continues to expand the deployment of single-window and one-stop source models and agreement on road transportation signed by the three countries.

 

Fourth, human resource development must be of concern, especially vocational training for local people, to first and foremost meet demand for high-quality labour of investment projects in the Development Triangle Area. At the same time, the movement and exchange of labour in the Development Triangle Area needs to be facilitated.

 

Fifth, it is necessary to effectively deploy the Master Plan passed by the Prime Ministers of the three countries, integrate local planning with regional planning and with the entire Development Triangle Area. In addition, it is necessary to have appropriate policies in the spirit of creating necessary priorities for areas agreed by three countries stated in the Memorandum of Understanding on Specially Preferential Policies for the Development Triangle Area.

 

Sixth, to develop rapidly and sustainably, environmental protection, degradation prevention and response to climate change are considered an important element in socioeconomic development planning. Economic development must be tied with ecological environmental protection and rational exploitation of natural resources and placed in the context of sustainable development of each country and in the entire Development Triangle area.

 

Seventh, every province in the area also needs to strengthen competitiveness, reform administrative procedures, and create the most favourable conditions for local and foreign investors and financial institutions to take part in investment projects in the locality.

 

Eighth, further strengthen security and order in border areas of the three countries, prevent transnational crimes, particularly drug crime. This is an important condition to ensure the stable foundation for socioeconomic development of each country.

 

Finding financial resources to implement key priority tasks as mentioned above is a major challenge for the localities in the area. I respectfully request that donors and businesses take an interest in mobilising and building management institutions, and effectively use resources to implement urgently important projects that directly serve the people in the Area.

 

I also propose that authorities of Vietnam as well as of Cambodia and Laos care, facilitate and support the localities in the area, especially to implement the Socioeconomic Development Master Plan and the Memorandum of Understanding on Specially Preferential Policies for the Development Triangle Area.

 

I also suggest that the localities in the area necessarily promote internal resources, utilise competitive advantages, employ social resources, promote investment, organise public - private dialogues, reform administrative procedures, announce the list of priority projects calling for investment, and creating favourable conditions for investors, financial institutions and foreign donors to take part in investment.

 

I believe that, after Development Partnership Forum for CLV Development Triangle, investors, financial institutions and foreign donors will immediately have practical decisions to support the localities with cooperation programmes and projects at the earliest to help create livelihoods, improve living standards for local people and narrow development gap with people in other areas of the three countries.