L-R: Prime Ministers Bouasone Bouphavanh, Thein Sein, Nguyen Tan Dung and Hun SenThursday, November 06, 2008
HANOI (AFP) — Vietnam's premier warned Thursday that the current upheavals in the world economy would not spare Southeast Asia's Mekong river countries.
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam are particularly vulnerable to the global turmoil, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said at the opening of a regional summit.
He called for the grouping and the wider Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to step up their cooperation to fight the impact of the global turmoil and push forward the fight against poverty.
"With their low and limited levels of development, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam are the most vulnerable countries to negative upheavals in the regional and world economy," said Dung.
Myanmar's Prime Minister Thein Sein warned the financial crisis "may lead to a decline in development assistance from our development partners" and said the region should increasingly look to India, China and Japan for help.
The premiers of the four developing countries met Thursday in Vietnam's flood-hit capital Hanoi, where they were to be joined for a dinner and a broader summit Friday by Thailand's new Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat.
Somchai, speaking at Bangkok airport before flying to Hanoi, said he wanted to discuss the impact of high food prices with his regional neighbours, as well as thorny border issues with military-ruled Myanmar.
"During my trip to Vietnam I will take the opportunity to raise the issue of rice prices with the Vietnamese prime minister, and with the Myanmar prime minister I will bring up the issues of the border and drugs," he said.
Except for middle-income country Thailand, the other four nations remain among Asia's poorest and hope to build prosperity through closer regional transport and commercial links, both with each other and with China.
Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos were cold war battlegrounds until 1975, and conflict raged on in Cambodia until the 1990s. Myanmar, also known as Burma, remains diplomatically isolated and poverty-stricken.
Full-scale wars ended years ago in the region, but a lingering dispute between Thailand and Cambodia over land near an ancient Khmer temple erupted last month into a border clash that left four people dead.
Thailand's Somchai said he did not intend to raise the issue with Cambodia's Hun Sen at the Hanoi meeting.
"I don't think I will again talk about the conflict with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen as I consider the problem has already been solved," Somchai told reporters.
Foreign ministers and border negotiators from the two countries will meet November 10-12 in Cambodia's tourist hub Siem Reap to try to end the months-long military stand off, Cambodia's foreign ministry has said.
Thursday's premiers' meeting is known as the fourth summit of the CLMV group, named after member-states Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam are particularly vulnerable to the global turmoil, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said at the opening of a regional summit.
He called for the grouping and the wider Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to step up their cooperation to fight the impact of the global turmoil and push forward the fight against poverty.
"With their low and limited levels of development, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam are the most vulnerable countries to negative upheavals in the regional and world economy," said Dung.
Myanmar's Prime Minister Thein Sein warned the financial crisis "may lead to a decline in development assistance from our development partners" and said the region should increasingly look to India, China and Japan for help.
The premiers of the four developing countries met Thursday in Vietnam's flood-hit capital Hanoi, where they were to be joined for a dinner and a broader summit Friday by Thailand's new Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat.
Somchai, speaking at Bangkok airport before flying to Hanoi, said he wanted to discuss the impact of high food prices with his regional neighbours, as well as thorny border issues with military-ruled Myanmar.
"During my trip to Vietnam I will take the opportunity to raise the issue of rice prices with the Vietnamese prime minister, and with the Myanmar prime minister I will bring up the issues of the border and drugs," he said.
Except for middle-income country Thailand, the other four nations remain among Asia's poorest and hope to build prosperity through closer regional transport and commercial links, both with each other and with China.
Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos were cold war battlegrounds until 1975, and conflict raged on in Cambodia until the 1990s. Myanmar, also known as Burma, remains diplomatically isolated and poverty-stricken.
Full-scale wars ended years ago in the region, but a lingering dispute between Thailand and Cambodia over land near an ancient Khmer temple erupted last month into a border clash that left four people dead.
Thailand's Somchai said he did not intend to raise the issue with Cambodia's Hun Sen at the Hanoi meeting.
"I don't think I will again talk about the conflict with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen as I consider the problem has already been solved," Somchai told reporters.
Foreign ministers and border negotiators from the two countries will meet November 10-12 in Cambodia's tourist hub Siem Reap to try to end the months-long military stand off, Cambodia's foreign ministry has said.
Thursday's premiers' meeting is known as the fourth summit of the CLMV group, named after member-states Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
6 comments:
Ah Dung warning against recession in SEA wow that something that nobody knows.
What a PREDICTION!!!
Dictatorships!!!!!!Youn Hanoi is the chef of communist in Cambodia,Laos!!Hund Xen is the youn Hanoi's pupet!!!!
Hund Xen has many Phd without school,the others 3 are better than dictator Hund Xen!!!they have more brain than Hund Xen!!!Hund Xen is very crazy man in Cambodia.
All these clowns get together making Thailand nervous.
OMG! Are they planning something to offense Thailand??
4 against 1 is tough.
Khmer Thai,
3:49 Are you really Khmer Thai or Siem Thai? Pretty soon you be a man made hole like Siem. PAD will use you hole untl you beg them to stop. Thaksin will be your king soon.
Thaksin will be Thai's king soon, long live Thaksin!
This photo is not completely innocent.
It is the political signal clearly given to the thailande that the war as the means to solve the internal politics problem is not acceptable any more today. For the strategic regional balance, The thailande has to expect the intervention of the third party in the Khmer / thais armed conflict, if there is a war.
The military aggression of a country against a member of the region of the mékong, it is the aggression against the peace and the development of all the region of the mékong.
Other countries of the region have the duty to intervene militarily.
It is the doctrine of the peace in the balance of terror.
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