1. We, the Heads of the Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Union of Myanmar and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (hereafter referred to as CLMV) gathered for the Fourth CLMV Summit on 6 November 2008 in Hanoi, Vietnam. ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General was also present at the Summit.
2. We reiterated our initiatives and decisions adopted at the CLMV Summits in Vientiane, Laos in 2004, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2005 and in Cebu, the Philippines in 2007 and reaffirmed our determination to deepen the traditional relations of friendship, good neighborliness and mutual benefits among the CLMV countries under the light of the Vientiane Declaration.
3. We reviewed the implementation of the Vientiane Declaration and the CLMV Plan of Actions and confirmed that the smooth progress in the CLMV cooperation would not only be a practical evidence for the efforts of the CLMV in nurturing and strengthening their traditional cooperation relations and friendship, but also make positive contributions to peace, stability, narrowing development gap and integration within the Mekong Sub-region and the entire region as a whole.
4. We highly valued the efforts of our SOM officials at the CLMV SOM meeting on 28 August 2007 in Hanoi to translate the CLMV Plan of Actions into concrete projects and agreed to adopt the List of CLMV projects. We tasked our Ministers and SOM officials to build up mechanism and work plans to put the List of CLMV projects into actual implementation and also required SOM officials to submit the annual progress report to their Leaders and to update the List of CLMV projects biennially. We also urged Working Groups to convene their meetings as soon as possible to discuss the implementation of the work plans in their respective sectors.
5. In trade and investment facilitation cooperation, bearing in mind that trade and investments are attached with top priority, we agreed to:
5.1. Strengthen close coordination in trade and investment promotion through organizing the CLMV trade fairs in member countries in order to increase trade and investment flows within CLMV countries and with other countries. We highly appreciated Vietnam for her willingness to reserve booths for the CLM countries in major international trade fairs and exhibitions hosted by Vietnam.
5.2. Facilitate investment by the CLMV investors in terms of licensing, labor procedures and others on the basis of mutual benefit in potential areas inter alia, agro-industries, industrial crop processing, mineral industries, hydro-power, infrastructure development, logistics and services.
6. In transport cooperation, we agreed to:
6.1. Strengthen close coordination to make best use of economic corridors across the CLMV countries, particularly the East- West Economic Corridor (EWEC), the Southern Economic Corridor (SEC), the Central Economic Corridor (CEC) under the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) cooperation. We assigned the Transportation Working Group to conduct the studies of road links from: 1. Hanoi-Tay Trang (Vietnam) to Oudomxay-Luang Namtha (Laos) and Yangon (Myanmar); 2. Siem Reap-Stung Treng (Cambodia)-Champasak (Laos) and Siem Reap (Cambodia)-Khong Island in Champasak (Laos), and upgrading the Southern Economic Corridor (SEC) to the primary highway; and
6.2. Enhance the implementation of the CLMV Multilateral Agreement on Air Services. We welcomed Vietnam and Myanmar to consider the possibility of opening direct air link from Hanoi to Yangon and encouraged development of air linkages among major cities, cultural and natural heritage sites in the CLMV countries for the expansion
7. In agricultural, industrial and energy cooperation among CLMV countries, we agreed to mutually facilitate investment through relevant investment incentives, particularly facilitation of labor regulations and payment procedures, in potential areas, including production and processing of crops, mineral exploitation, hydro power development, oil and gas exploration, telecommunication infrastructure development and service provision and others.
8. In tourism cooperation, we noted with satisfaction the Declaration of Tourism Leaders of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam on tourism cooperation under the “Three Countries-One Destination” program and tasked the CLMV countries’ concerned agencies to consider the possibility of Myanmar’s participation in this program.
9. In human resource development, we highly valued the initiative of Vietnam to establish CLMV Scholarship Scheme, which shall provide scholarships to the CLM countries annually, including scholarships for vocational and post- graduate training. We agreed that Vietnam shall prepare specific guidelines on the implementation of the CLMV Scholarship Scheme.
10. We welcomed the successful convening and positive outcomes of the 2nd Initiative for ASEAN Integration Development Cooperation Forum (IDCF-2) in Hanoi in June 2007 and reaffirmed to accelerate the pace of the CLMV countries’ integration and faster narrowing development gap within ASEAN in line with the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI). We called upon the ASEAN Secretariat to support CLMV countries in mobilizing financial resources from other development partners for CLMV projects and assist CLMV countries in translating the IAI Work Plan II to be adopted at the 14th ASEAN Summit into concrete actions.
11. Bearing in mind that closer cooperation among the CLMV countries is conducive to regional integration, we agreed to enhance our close coordination in the sub-regional and regional fora, particularly in the Greater Mekong Sub-regional cooperation (GMS), Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) and Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam Development Triangle (CLV) and ASEAN’s negotiations with other countries on economic and trade arrangements, in order to strengthen our common positions for the benefit of the CLMV countries in particular and the whole region in general.
12. We reaffirmed that efforts of the CLMV countries were the decisive factor in their respective development and integration. We highly appreciated the support and assistance of the international community to the CLMV countries in their socio- economic development. We thanked Japan for her readiness to provide assistance amounting to US$ 20 million through Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF) to CLMV countries for the project “Improving Efficiency of Logistics and Distribution of the EWEC and the Second EWEC”.
13. We called upon other ASEAN members and concerned development partners to substantiate their assistance to complement our own resources for development and integration acceleration through the following:
13.1. Enhance financial and technical assistance to the CLMV countries through the current bilateral and regional initiatives, of which priority is given to infrastructure development, poverty reduction, human resource development and environment conservation. We instructed our SOM officials to work closely and keep frequent consultation with the ASEAN Secretariat and concerned development partners on providing assistance to the implementation of viable projects under the List of CLMV projects;
13.2. Continue to accord preferential and special treatment to the CLMV countries’ products and services in market access under the frameworks of the ASEAN Integration System of Preference (AISP) scheme, free trade agreements between ASEAN and relevant countries; and
13.3. Encourage and facilitate their business sectors to increase investment in the CLMV countries.
14. We agreed to further strengthen close coordination and consultation among the CLMV countries to speed up and enhance the effectiveness of our cooperation. In this regard, we agreed that:
14.1. CLMV Summits shall be convened biennially in the CLMV countries in alphabetical order or back-to-back with ACMECS, subject to the arrangement by the host country. CLMV Ministerial Meetings precede CLMV Summits on the same occasion and, if necessary, an additional CLMV Ministerial Meeting may be convened during the interval of the two CLMV Summits. In that spirit, we agreed that the Fifth CLMV Summit will be held in 2010 in Cambodia.
14.2. CLMV SOM meeting shall be held annually in the host country of CLMV Summit and, if necessary, more SOM meetings may be arranged in corresponding to progress and momentum of the CLMV cooperation.
15. We tasked the Ministers and SOM officials to ensure the effective implementation of this Joint Statement and report its progress to their respective Heads of Governments.
16. We expressed our sincere thanks and appreciation to the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for her excellent arrangements and warm hospitality in hosting the 4th CLMV Summit in Hanoi.
Done in Hanoi, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, on 6th November 2008.
