1. A Republic of Korea-Mekong senior officials’ meeting (SOM) took place in Pakse, the capital of Champasak province, southern Laos, on March 23 and 24 to discuss ways that the ROK and the five countries in the Lower Mekong Subregion can work together, including in preparing for the bilateral foreign ministerial meeting to come in the ROK in early September 2017. The ROK’s head delegate to SOM was Director-General for South Asian and Pacific Affairs Ryu Jeong-hyun of the Foreign Ministry.

2. The delegates from the six countries, welcoming the 50th anniversary in 2017 of the founding of ASEAN, drew a common understanding that as achieving a substantial completion of the ASEAN community requires efforts to narrow the development gaps and enhance connectivity among the ASEAN countries, the ROK-Mekong cooperation should move forward in a way that contributes to the ASEAN integration.

3. The ROK and the Mekong countries shared the view that their bilateral cooperation, which had started with the “Hangang Declaration” in 2011, steadily developed the level of institutionalization over the past seven years and thereby grew into a model of mini-lateral cooperation. They particularly noted with appreciation that the work called for in their bilateral Plan of Action for 2014-2017, the first of its kind adopted in 2014, were on their way to a successful completion.

° The delegates from the six countries took note of the fact that with the coffers of the ROK-Mekong Cooperation Fund expanded to one million US dollars in 2015, seven projects, including the capability-building project for drug crackdowns in the Mekong area, had been conducted in 2016, and six new projects, such as the capability-development project for green logistics in the area, were chosen for implementation in 2017. As can be seen from this, they noted, the Fund has reached its operational phase. With regard to the implementation of projects, the six countries agreed to remain in close cooperation with the Mekong Institute, the overseer of the ROK-Mekong Cooperation Fund.

4. The ROK delegation informed the other SOM participants of the progress in the preparations for the ROK-Mekong foreign ministerial meeting scheduled to take place in Busan in early September 2017. The officials from the six countries drew a common understanding that the bilateral Plan of Action for 2017-2020, the second of its kind to be adopted at the Busan meeting, will carry significance in that it will set forth a specific vision and development direction for bilateral cooperation. They agreed to put in many efforts in drawing up the Plan of Action.

° The ROK side also shared with the other participants the ROK’s plan to hold, in conjunction with the foreign ministerial meeting, a formal opening ceremony of the ASEAN Culture House, which will function as a hub for two-way cultural exchanges between the ROK and ASEAN. On that note, he expressed hope of the participation of the foreign ministers of the Mekong countries in the event.

5. The Mekong region, which has a great potential for growth of its domestic and finance markets, is a promising market, which has been seeing fast economic growth at an annual 5-8% rate, and where Korean companies are expected to expand their presence. The ROK-Mekong cooperation is anticipated to pave the way for shared development and prosperity of the two sides.


* unofficial translation