Sarun Charoensuwan, permanent secretary of Thailand's Foreign Ministry, addresses a Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Week 2023 event which marks the seventh anniversary of the LMC in Bangkok, Thailand on March 23, 2023. (Xinhua/Lin Hao)
BANGKOK, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) has enhanced mutual trust and collaboration among LMC countries, senior Thai officials said here on Thursday.
Addressing an LMC Week 2023 event which marks the seventh anniversary of the LMC, Sarun Charoensuwan, permanent secretary of Thailand's Foreign Ministry, said the LCM has proved to be a mechanism that is "action-oriented" and emphasizes concrete results in various fields.
"It plays an important role in enhancing political trust and driving strong collaboration between countries in the Mekong-Lancang sub-region, especially in economic and social aspects, and people-to-people cooperation," he said.
The collaboration has also played an important role in complementing and linking LMC members' national development policies with regional and global initiatives, such as the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Global Development Initiative (GDI), he added.
The LMC consists of six countries, namely China, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
Chairat Sirivat, ambassador attached to the Thai Foreign Ministry, said the LMC Special Fund so far has assisted over 600 development projects across the sub-region, including 59 projects in Thailand from 11 agencies.
"I would like to express my thanks to China for supporting the implementation of the Thai-led projects, as well as to other LMC member countries for their cooperation with Thai agencies for the completed and ongoing Thai-led LMC Special Fund projects, including the new projects which are officially launched today," he said.
Chairat noted that these projects are not only in line with the development priorities, but they also address challenges in the sub-region, as well as those currently at regional and global levels, such as food and energy security, balance between economic recovery and environmental protection, sustainable water resource management and climate change.
"I strongly believe that the implementation of these projects will help improve the livelihoods of the people in this sub-region and strengthen the resilience and sustainability of the sub-region to reach its full potential in the post-COVID-19 era," he said. ■