Southeast Asia Information Port News (www.dnyxxg.com) 2026 marks the 10th anniversary of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (Lancang-Mekong Cooperation) mechanism. At this important juncture, Le Hoai Trung, member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam and Minister of Foreign Affairs, published a signed article entitled "Lancang-Mekong Cooperation: A Decade of Jointly Building a Sustainable Future," systematically reviewing the mechanism's achievements and looking ahead to future cooperation. Vietnam News Agency reporters have compiled the core content of the article for readers.
The Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism covers six riverine countries: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, China, and Vietnam. The Lancang-Mekong River, like a green ribbon nourishing these six countries, not only sustains the lives and livelihoods of millions of people but also embodies the profound vision of mutual assistance and common development among the nations. Over the past decade, the six countries have adhered to the principles of "prioritizing development, consensus-building, equality and voluntariness, and mutual benefit," and upheld the basic norms of the UN Charter and international law. Together, they have solidified the foundation of cooperation, making the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation a model of sub-regional cooperation and steadily advancing the strategic vision of building a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable Lancang-Mekong region. The achievements of this cooperation are concentrated in five dimensions:
First, political mutual trust has been continuously deepened. The mechanism provides an important platform for high-level exchanges and dialogues at all levels among the six countries, promoting bilateral and multilateral mutual trust to a new level.
Second, water resources cooperation has yielded significant results. The six countries have steadily advanced pragmatic cooperation in the field of sustainable water resources management, jointly protecting the ecology of transboundary rivers.
Third, regional connectivity has been accelerated and upgraded. "Hard connectivity" such as transportation infrastructure has been continuously improved, while "soft connectivity" such as visa facilitation and smart customs has been continuously optimized, significantly promoting the deep integration of cross-border trade and the regional economy.
Fourth, the scope of cooperation has been continuously expanded. From its initial five key areas, the cooperation has gradually expanded to emerging fields such as digital transformation and green development. Through initiatives like the "Green Lancang-Mekong Plan" and the "Lancang-Mekong Security Action," it collaboratively addresses common challenges such as climate change and transnational crime. Fifth, people's well-being has continuously improved. Always prioritizing people and businesses, the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Special Fund has cumulatively funded approximately 1,000 projects, covering key areas such as smart agriculture, transportation infrastructure, education, and healthcare. In Vietnam, these projects extend from the northern mountainous regions to Ca Mau province in the south, effectively improving people's livelihoods and empowering development.
As an active participant and significant contributor to the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation, Vietnam has always attached great importance to mechanism building, actively promoting synergy between the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation and related cooperation frameworks such as the Mekong-India, Mekong-US, Mekong-Japan, and Mekong-South Korea cooperation frameworks, precisely aligning with the sub-regional development needs. Based on its regional advantages, Vietnam has proposed several pragmatic initiatives, including strengthening infrastructure connectivity, deepening logistics and supply chain cooperation, developing the digital economy, and promoting mechanism alignment, fully demonstrating its responsibility as a member and injecting momentum into balancing regional interests, promoting sustainable water resource management, and the sustainable development of the Mekong Delta. Facing new circumstances and challenges, Le Hoai Trung outlined three key directions for future Lancang-Mekong Cooperation in his article: First, consolidate friendly mutual trust, based on mutual respect, equal consultation, and adherence to international law, strengthen dialogue and consultation, and solidify the political foundation for long-term cooperation; second, deepen pragmatic cooperation, focusing on the development priorities of each country, and precisely targeting key areas such as water resource management, innovation-driven development, infrastructure construction, energy cooperation, and supply chain stability to collaboratively address new challenges; third, adhere to a people-centered approach, ensuring that the fruits of cooperation directly benefit people's livelihoods, creating more development opportunities for the people, and allowing the dividends of Lancang-Mekong Cooperation to benefit the people of the six countries.
Le Hoai Trung emphasized that Vietnam will continue to actively fulfill its responsibilities and contribute its strength to promote Lancang-Mekong Cooperation to a higher level from a new starting point, working hand in hand with the other five countries to build a Lancang-Mekong community with a shared future oriented towards peace, prosperity, and sustainable development. (End)
