China, Laos sign agreement on Lancang-Mekong cooperation fund

VIENTIANE - Chinese Ambassador to Laos Wang Wentian and Lao Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Khamphao Ernthavanh have signed an agreement on Lancang-Mekong cooperation funding for Lao projects here.

In his speech at the signing ceremony on Tuesday, Wang congratulated the successful application for Lao projects under Lancang-Mekong cooperation fund, saying this is another milestone in the Lancang-Mekong cooperation framework.

The Chinese side highly appreciates the enthusiastic participation of Lao side into the Lancang-Mekong cooperation framework, which has contributed greatly to the rapid development of the mechanism, Wang said.

China expects to work closely with Laos to promote the consensus reached, jointly design and implement the next cooperation plans. The ambassador expresses his belief that under the active implementation of Laos and joint efforts of both sides, the Lancang-Mekong cooperation will gain more fruitful achievements in the future.

Khamphao, for her part, said that despite the short time since its commence, the Lancang-Mekong cooperation mechanism has made substantial progresses in various fields, reflecting that China attaches great importance and actively engages in various work to promoting the implementation of the "Sanya Declaration," especially in promotion of projects under Lancang-Mekong fund.

Laos has harvested tangible benefits from the Lancang-Mekong cooperation mechanism, including those in human resource development, infrastructure construction, public healthcare, and poverty reduction among others, according to the Lao diplomat.

Khamphao also expressed gratitude to Chinese side's approval of 13 projects of Laos under the Lancang-Mekong fund, adding that the projects will help promote socio-economic development of Laos, thus further strengthening the ties between Laos and China within Lancang-Mekong mechanism.

Lancang-Mekong cooperation is established in March 2016, since then various exchanges activities among political parties, officials, youth and religious groups have been organized.