U Soe Han, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and Mr Chen Hai, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar signed the agreement on the transfer of fund for Mekong-Lancang Special Fund (2020) projects, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the afternoon of 23rd March (Monday) 2020.

The Permanent Secretaries and Senior Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and concerned Ministries, and officials from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Yangon attended the signing ceremony.

China will transfer over 6.7 million USD (6,788,850/-) to Myanmar for (22) projects to be implemented in Myanmar by the 10 ministries in the areas of agriculture, water resources, education, social and cultural exchange, research, ICT, law enforcement, capacity building and investment promotion. China supported 2.4 million USD for 10 projects under MLC Special Fund (2017) and 7.2 million USD for 19 projects under MLC Special Fund (2018) to Myanmar in the past.

The Mekong-Lancang Cooperation was initiated by the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the 17th ASEAN-China Summit held in Myanmar in 2014 to foster cooperation to reduce development gap and attain sustainable development in the Mekong region. Mekong-Lancang Cooperation was officially launched in 2016 among six Mekong-Lancang countries comprising Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam. March 23 marks the 4th Anniversary of the establishment of Mekong-Lancang Cooperation.

The Mekong-Lancang Cooperation primarily focused on five priority areas, namely; connectivity, production capacity, cross-border economic cooperation, water resources, and agriculture and poverty reduction. It has been expanded to the areas such as education, culture and health based on the needs of the Mekong Region.

MNA
Ref:  The Global New Light of Myanmar