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On 23 November 2018, the opening ceremony of the 2018 Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Expo (hereinafter referred to as the 2018 LMC Expo) and the LMC Dianchi Forum was held in Kunming, Yunnan province. The events were hosted by China International Chamber of Commerce (CCOIC) and organized by CCPIT Yunnan Sub-council and Kunming Municipal Government. Mr. Chen Dehai, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), addressed the opening ceremony and visited the venue of the expo accompanied by the organizers.
The opening ceremony was presided over by Mr. Jiang Xingming and attended by Mr. Ren Junhao, Vice Governor of Yunnan Province, Mr. Korn Dabbaransi, former Thai Vice Prime Minister, Ms. KhamchanVongsenboun, Vice Minister of Planning and Investment Ministry of Lao PDR, Mr. Chhuon Dara, Cambodian State Secretary of Ministry of Commerce, Mr. Sha Zukang, former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Chen Jian, former Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce, and Ms. Zhang Yi, Deputy Secretary-General of CCOIC. About 300 guests including government officials, leaders of chambers of commerce, experts and scholars, entrepreneurs from the five Mekong countries and China as well as representatives of international organizations attended the opening ceremony.
In his speech, Vice Governor Ren Junhao said that thanks to the joint efforts of all parties, Lancang-Mekong Cooperation had developed rapidly and achieved remarkable results. As the frontier and active participant of the LMC, Yunnan province had enhanced economic and trade cooperation, connectivity and people-to-people exchanges with the five Mekong countries. He hoped that through high-level expositions, forums and business matchmaking, all sectors of society including enterprises, social organizations, think tanks and universities of the LMC countries could be more widely engaged in LMC and jointly build a platform for mutual benefits and win-win.
ACC Secretary-General Chen Dehai said that ASEAN-China relations have entered a period of maturity, in which both sides pursue growth of high quality at higher levels, ushering in new opportunities for development. The five Mekong countries and China have enormous needs for cooperation in such areas as industrialization, infrastructure, industrial structure upgrading and agriculture modernization, and face similar development tasks. The LMC has injected new vitality to ASEAN-China cooperation, and will help narrow development gaps among ASEAN member states and speed up the building of ASEAN community and regional integration process. ACC will actively support and participate in LMC and serve as a bridge between Mekong countries and China under the framework of ASEAN-China cooperation.
Minister Khamchan Vongsenboun said that the Lao government has formulated the strategy of turning the “l(fā)andlocked country" into the “l(fā)and connected country”, so as to better synergize with the Belt and Road Initiative. In the future, Lao PDR will be committed to building a logistics centre in the Greater Mekong Sub-region and make full use of the platform of the LMC Expo to benefit the people of both sides.
State Secretary Chhuon Dara spoke highly of LMC and believed that it would accelerate the internationalization of trade and investment in the region which would bring real benefits to the people of the six countries.
After the opening ceremony, the guests attended the LMC Dianchi Forum themed of “Lancang-Mekong Cooperation and Regional Economic Integration”. Mr. Korn Dabbaransi, former Thai Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Sha Zukang, former Deputy Secretary-General of United Nations, Mr. Chen Jian, former Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce, Mr. Hean Vanhan, State Secretary of the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Mr. Oudet Souvannavong, President of Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Zhao Xiaoyu, President of China Double Green Entrepreneur Council, and other guests had in-depth discussions on the significance and goals of LMC, and shared their observations on past experience, future development and innovation modes of industrial cooperation and mechanism building under the framework of the Belt and Road and LMC.
The 2018 LMC Expo, with the theme of “The Same River - Cooperation and Development Together”, was upgraded from the Lancang-Mekong Sub-regional Commodity Exposition and consisted of commodity exhibition, theme forums and entrepreneurs’ conference. The commodity exhibition covered an area of over 50,000 square metres, with seven theme pavilions, including Lancang-Mekong national pavilion, special commodity pavilion, the new energy pavilion and the international pavilion. Besides the theme forums, the LMC Expo also included activities such as China-Lao PDR Investment Fair, International Innovation Industry Sub-Forum and Yunnan Cultural Tourism Industry Development Forum.
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