Neighbors see benefits from cooperation

Mechanism powering progress from healthcare to infrastructure

PHNOM PENH — Daw Thein Khin had been suffering from cataracts for three years before relief arrived courtesy of free surgery by a Chinese medical team.

The 70-year-old from Myanmar’s Mandalay province received her treatment under the Mekong Bright Journey plan, which was launched in 2016 and has cured more than 600 cataract patients in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.

“I can now finally see the blue sky and white clouds, and my daughter’s face. I’m so happy!” Khin said.

The Mekong Bright Journey plan is one of many projects carried out under the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation initiative, which was created in 2016 to facilitate cooperation among China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand, the six countries that share the Lancang-Mekong area.

The previous mechanisms were led by great powers beyond the region and international organizations, which made it difficult for the six countries to invest in regional development projects.

This week, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will attend the second LMC Leaders’ Meeting in Phnom Penh and pay an official visit to Cambodia from Wednesday to Thursday.

Since the official launch of the LMC, it has established a “3+5” mechanism of cooperation, referring to the three cooperation pillars — political and security issues, economic and sustainable development, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges — and the five key priority areas of connectivity, production capacity, crossborder economic cooperation, water resources, and agriculture and poverty reduction.

Remarkable results have been achieved in implementing all 45 early harvest projects and establishing joint working groups on key priority areas, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

Rapid progress has also been made in infrastructure, with one example appearing in the less developed Mekong country of Laos.

Driving from Luang Prabang north for about one and a half hours, the Nam Ou cascade hydropower station shows itself to visitors.

The development is a seven-dam project with total installed capacity of 1,272 MW and annual generating capacity of some 5,000 GWh, which will greatly alleviate the country’s power shortage situation once done.

Bo Ou, 58-year-old chief of Thong Kham village where a Nam Ou cascade hydropower station is located, has witnessed the huge changes of his village.

“Since the project entered our village, many villagers have been employed by the project, and we can sell a lot of things to the Chinese employees here. Our lives are so much better. We are very happy about it,” he said.

Now many Chinese power contractors have been working night and day to help power Laos’ plan of becoming the “storage battery on the Indochina Peninsula”.

Since the six Lancang-Mekong countries seed one and a half years ago, many fruits have been harvested — all six countries have established LMC National Secretariats/ Coordination Units, and joint working groups; most of the 45 Early Harvest Projects and 13 initiatives have been completed or made substantive progress; the first batch of projects of the LMC Special Fund have been completed, among others, creating a unique “Lancang-Mekong speed”.

Experts pointed out that the strong development momentum of the LMC has not only benefited the six countries along the river, but also radiated to neighboring countries in ASEAN.

“The three pillars of the LMC — political and safety, economic and sustainable development, social and cultural — fit with the foundation of ASEAN community building,” says Lu Guangsheng, a professor with Yunnan University.

Highlighting the three major fields the LMC covers, Wang Yi said the mechanism will promote alignment with the ASEAN community and enhance overall cooperation in the region.