PM: Harness the Mekong Region's Economic Power

Prime Minister Hun Sen making his opening remarks in Hanoi at the World Economic Forum on the Mekong Region. AFP

The Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) has the potential to become a major global production center due to its favorable geographical location and its proximity to economic powerhouses in both Southeast and South Asia,  Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday.

Speaking in Hanoi at the opening of the World Economic Forum on the Mekong Region (WEF Mekong), Mr. Hun Sen said: “By 2030, all five countries in the GMS [Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar] will have a population of 260 million.”

“This is a collective, active and youthful workforce in a region that is located in the heart of Asean with land and sea routes connecting it to rapidly growing economies in China and India,” he said.

Because of its strategic geographical location, Mr. Hun Sen added, the GMS can be an effective and competitive production network in regional and global market value chains.

“This is very important for developing a regional industry that not only links the five GMS countries but also links them globally through China and India.”

Mr. Hun Sen said the linking of such a production network will help facilitate the development of technologies “through complimentary roles played by leading industries in Thailand and Vietnam that could help support new industries in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.”

“This in turn will help create a very dynamic regional production network,” he said.
 

Mr. Hun Sen pointed out that Cambodia had a crucial role to play in the GMS and highlighted the country’s strategic location in both the Mekong region and Asean.

“Cambodia has an open economy, an impressive economic growth rate and rich natural resources,” he added.
 

“Cambodia is poised to cooperate with other [GMS] countries towards achieving this joint Mekong vision – especially in the context of harnessing the fourth industrial revolution in this new millennium.”

The WEF Mekong is organized for the first time at Vietnam’s initiative to promote the region’s potential to the international business community. It brings together 180 leading representatives from major multinationals, large Asean and Asia-Pacific companies, academia and civil society. It is organized alongside the Eighth Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam Summit and the Seventh Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy Summit.

According to Viet Nam News’ website yesterday, the Asean Regional Business Council (RBC) was also launched at the WEF Mekong with the aim of promoting public-private cooperation on the most pressing issues facing Southeast Asia.

The RBC is made up of 25 Asean companies and 30 global companies, including big names such as Vietnam’s VinaCapital Group, Malaysia’s AirAsia, Philippines’ SM Investments Corp. and Thailand’s PTT Plc.

One of the RBC’s key priorities is to lift non-tariff barriers which are still rampant across Asean, despite the official establishment of the Asean Economic Community late last year.

“Trade barriers have come down significantly, close to zero in most cases, but there are so many non-tariff barriers across Asean. We will work on these barriers by engaging the government and different sectors,” Nazir Razak, chairman of Malaysia’s CIMB Group Holdings and also chairman of the newly established RBC, told Viet Nam News.