China News Service, Kunming, March 23 (Zhang Dan Luojie) The new crown pneumonia epidemic has caused varying degrees of impact on the Lancang-Mekong countries in the fields of economy, poverty alleviation, and people-to-people exchanges.
Zhang Zhenjiang, dean of the School of International Relations of Jinan University, believes that “Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (hereinafter referred to as the “Lan-Mekong Cooperation”) should unite the forces of various countries, give full play to the advantages of mechanisms, and inject'source of living water' into regional development.
The Seminar on Deepening Lancang-Mekong Cooperation hosted by Yunnan University was held in Kunming on the 23rd.
Through online and offline methods, the conference brought together dozens of experts and scholars from China, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and other countries to review the experience and achievements of the fifth anniversary of Lancang-Mekong cooperation and discuss the prospects and challenges of Lancang-Mekong cooperation in the post-epidemic era.
The Lancang River, which originated from China's Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is called the Mekong River after it exits China's Yunnan Province.
It flows through Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and finally into the South China Sea.
The six Lancang-Mekong countries are geographically close, close to each other and culturally connected. The rivers of water are closely linked and witness the friendly exchanges and development and progress of the people along the coast.
The Lancang-Mekong Cooperation is a new sub-regional cooperation mechanism jointly initiated and constructed by China and the Mekong countries. It was officially launched on March 23, 2016.
"The Lancang-Mekong cooperation is born and prospered by water. Water resources cooperation is an inevitable topic. China has carried out many water assistance projects in the region." Guo Yanjun, director of the Asia Research Institute of China Foreign Affairs University, proposed that water resources cooperation must Highlight the people-oriented concept, give full consideration to how to promote local employment, promote local development, improve the ability to resist floods and droughts and the ability to manage the water environment, and effectively benefit the people along the coast.
"The Lancang-Mekong River is the resource on which people along the coast depend for survival." Chen Haiyan, Director of the Chinese Diplomacy Research Office of the Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences, said happily. Through the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation, a water resources cooperation center has been established. , Promote water cooperation in an open way.
In the post-epidemic era, how to make use of the advantages of Lancang-Mekong cooperation to help the region quickly rejuvenate is the focus of attention of many experts.
“Rapid and effective control of the epidemic is the basis for all work.” Lv Xing, associate professor at the Institute of International Relations of Yunnan University, said that Lancang-Mekong countries should strengthen cooperation in public health and safety, and effectively carry out information sharing, material deployment and coordination under the Lancang-Mekong cooperation framework. Building anti-epidemic capacity.
In the long term, we can consider building an integrated system for early warning and prevention of infectious diseases.
Zhang Jiadong, director of the Center for South Asian Studies at Fudan University, said that global debt will increase sharply in 2020, and the financial and financial pressures of Lancang-Mekong countries will generally increase. Risk response ability.
In the context of normalization of epidemic prevention and control, the state of free borders may not be sustainable, which will hinder the process of regional integration.
Zhang Jiadong proposed an innovative border management and control mechanism. Countries work together to establish smart borders so that national borders in the region can be managed when necessary and can be opened in peacetime.
Ukrist, Mekong Research Center, Asian Research Institute, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.
Patmanand believes that the epidemic has aggravated poverty in many countries. Countries in the region should better mobilize resources under the Lancang-Mekong cooperation framework, pay attention to the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises, increase employment opportunities, accelerate poverty alleviation, and accelerate economic recovery.
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