Foreign Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn speaks at the meeting. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Foreign ministers of Mekong countries and the Republic of Korea (RoK) agreed to increase cooperation in pandemic control and economic recovery in the future at the 11th Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on Mekong-Rok Cooperation held online on Wednesday.

The meeting was co-chaired by the Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn and RoK Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong with the participation of foreign ministers from Việt Nam, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.

Cooperation will focus on promoting production, distribution and transfer of vaccine technology in order to ensure safe, effective and timely access to vaccines.

Regarding the implementation of the Mekong-RoK Action Plan for the 2021-25 period, the participants stressed cooperation in the fields of development of digital economy, e-commerce and AI; enhancement of public-private cooperation and participation of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, creating favourable conditions for trade flows and investment; and increasing coordination with ASEAN and other Mekong cooperation frameworks.

The ministers applauded cooperation achievements gained over the past years, particularly in the construction of smart cities, agriculture development with adaptation to climate change and technical vocational education and training.

They spoke highly of RoK’s support for Mekong countries in coping with COVID-19 and economic recovery. The RoK committed to contribute US$4 million to the Mekong-RoK Cooperation Fund in 2021 and $200 million for the COVAX mechanism by 2022.

Addressing the event, Foreign Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn said despite the complicated development of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mekong countries and the RoK have maintained cooperation in many fields, particularly their upgrading to a strategic partnership and the approval of the action plan for the 2021-25 period.

He said cooperation in the future should prioritise supporting member countries to overcome difficulties. He proposed four contents, including controlling the pandemic via ensuring countries’ equal, full and timely access to vaccines and sharing and transferring of technology to help Mekong countries to produce locally-made vaccines; cooperation in digital transformation and building digital economy; improving capacity to cope with climate change and enhancing cooperation in managing and using Mekong water resources; and increasing cooperation in developing high quality human resources. — VNS