한•메콩, ‘한강•메콩강 선언’ 채택…7대분야 협력 강화
The first-ever summit between South Korea and Mekong nations produced the Mekong-Han River Declaration an agreement hoped to be the foundation of future cooperation between the two sides.
Notably, they agreed on concrete steps, designating seven key areas of cooperation.
Our Park Hee-jun has the details. South Korea and the five Mekong nations have agreed to focus their cooperation on seven key areas, including culture, agriculture, ICT and security.
In the Mekong-Han River Declaration, adopted during the very first Mekong-Korea summit on Wednesday, South Korea, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam,... chose seven areas of concentrated cooperation.
They include the designation of the year 2021 as the 'Mekong-Korea Exchange Year' to promote culture and tourism,... and celebrate the tenth anniversary of their cooperation.
Seoul will also share with Mekong, its experiences related to agriculture, infrastructure and technology,... encouraging business exchanges in these fields.
And to construct a more peaceful and safer Mekong region, they will strengthen cooperation in water resources management, biodiversity and forest management.
The two sides will also jointly respond to issues like climate change, natural disasters, drug trafficking and cyber-crime.
"Today, which will be remembered as the start of South Korea-Mekong cooperation, we set a foundation to significantly develop our relations. The Mekong-Han River Declaration will be the milestone for us to move beyond economic cooperation and become partners in people-centered peace and prosperity."
Also discussed at the gathering was President Moon's plan to turn the demilitarized zone into a global peace zone.
Acknowledging that peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula is essential to their co-prosperity,... the Mekong nations reaffirmed their support for the president's peace initiative.
And through active trade, South Korea and the Mekong region were able to record a trade volume of 84-and-a-half billion U.S. dollars,... more than double that of 2011.
They plan to further promote free trade and investment,... resisting protectionism and upholding a transparent, free and inclusive multilateral trading system.
"South Korea and the Mekong countries have agreed to gather every year on the sidelines of ASEAN-related summits. They will continue to deepen their partnership, based on their joint declaration,... until they meet again in Vietnam next year. Park Hee-jun, Arirang News, Busan."
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