PM Phuc arrives in Cambodia for third MRC Summit

The PM was welcomed at the airport by Cambodian Ambassador to Vietnam Prak Nguon Hong, Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Vu Quang Minh, Vietnamese Consul General in Battambang Nguyen Xuan Thuy and officials of the Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia and the Vietnamese Consulate General in Battambang, among others. 

He is scheduled to meet with Lao Prime Minister Thonglun Sisoulith and Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen the same day. 

The leader will attend the opening session of the summit and meet with overseas Vietnamese people in Cambodia to extend his greetings on the occasion of the traditional New Year of the Khmer people on April 5.

The MRC Summit, themed “Joint Efforts and Partnership towards Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in the Mekong”, will create an opportunity for countries to review the operation of the MRC over the past four years and work to realise sustainable development goals.

The 4,800 km-long Mekong River flows through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Its basin spreads over 795,000 square kilometres in the four countries of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

In 1956, the Mekong Committee was established under the auspices of the United Nations to coordinate aid and manage resources in the river basin. In 1995, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam signed an Agreement on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River and set up the MRC, replacing the Mekong Committee.

The MRC holds its summit every four years, starting from 2010. The first MRC summit was held in Hua Hin, Thailand in 2010 and the second one took place in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in 2014.