On 1 August 2022, H.E. Ms. Arunrung Phothong Humphreys, Ambassador Attached to the Ministry and Thai SOM Leader for Mekong Cooperation, participated in the 13th Mekong - Ganga Cooperation (MGC) Senior Officials’ Meeting, in Phnom Penh, which was held on the sideline of the 55th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and Related Meetings.

The Meeting reviewed the progress of the MGC in the past 22 years, as the first sub-regional cooperation framework between Mekong countries and their external partner - India.  It recognised India’s constructive role in rendering tangible development cooperation to the Mekong sub-region through its financial contribution to the Quick Impact Projects (QIPs) and Line of Credit (LoC) to MGC Member Countries.

The Meeting exchanged views on the future direction of MGC in the context of a fast-changing world.  It placed importance on strengthening collaboration in key areas, for instance, public health and preparedness for future emerging diseases, food and energy security, cultural tourism, and capacity building for businesses and SMEs.

In this regard, Thai SOM Leader proposed ways forward to re-strategise cooperation to unlock the full potential of MGC, which are: (1) to extend the current MGC Plan of Action (PoA) 2019-2022 for another two years and review existing priority areas of cooperation to meet the current challenges, and reactivate the lead country mechanism to cover all ten cooperation areas under the PoA; (2) to establish the MGC flagship projects, for example in the field of public health focusing on vaccine research and development, apart from the Trilateral Highway Project (India-Myanmar-Thailand), a key connectivity project to which all MGC Member Countries have attached importance; (3) to encourage participation of all stakeholders, particularly private sector’s role in the sub-region’s post-COVID-19 recovery as well as to make use of the MGC website to showcase and publish the MGC projects to the public; and (4) to promote synergy between MGC and ACMECS which is a connector to bridge and align strategic interests of Mekong countries and Development Partners.  In addition, the Meeting discussed the preparation for the 12th MGC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting scheduled to be convened later this year.

MGC was established in 2000 with a view to fostering economic cooperation and connectivity between India and five Mekong countries, namely Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.