Mekong-Ganga Cooperation
Encyclopedia
Mekong
Mekong
The Mekong is a river that runs through China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It is the world's 10th-longest river and the 7th-longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annually....

-Ganga Cooperation (MGC)
was established on November 10, 2000 at Vientiane
Vientiane
-Geography:Vientiane is situated on a bend of the Mekong river, which forms the border with Thailand at this point.-Climate:Vientiane features a tropical wet and dry climate with a distinct monsoon season and a dry season. Vientiane’s dry season spans from November through March. April marks the...

 in the First MGC Ministerial Meeting. It comprises six Member countries namely, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

, Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....

, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

, Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...

 and Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

. They emphasised four areas of cooperation, which are tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

, culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...

, education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

, and transportation linkage in order to be solid foundation for future trade and investment cooperation in the region.

Annual Ministerial Meetings

The working mechanism for MGC consists of the Annual Ministerial Meeting (back to back with ASEAN Ministerial Meeting), the Senior Official’s Meeting, and the five Working Groups namely;
  • Working Group on Tourism (Thailand is the lead country)
  • Working Group on Education (HRD) (India is the lead country)
  • Working Group on Culture (Cambodia is the lead country)
  • Working Group on Communication & Transportation (Lao PDR is the lead country)
  • Working Group on Plan of Actions (Vietnam is the lead country)

Second MGC Ministerial Meeting

At the Second MGC Ministerial Meeting held in Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...

 on July 28, 2001, the member countries adopted the Hanoi Programme of Action affirming their commitment to cooperate in four areas of cooperation. The “Hanoi Programme of Action” has 6 years timeframe from 2001 to 2007 and the progress of its implementation shall be reviewed every two years.

Third MGC Ministerial Meeting

At the Third MGC Ministerial Meeting held in Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...

 on June 20 2003, the member countries adopted the Phnom Penh Road Map as a plan to accelerate the implementation of all MGC projects and activities.

Fourth MGC Ministerial Meeting

Fourth MGC Ministerial Meeting was held January 12, 2007 at Sebu. In this meeting Thailand has handed over the chairmanship of MGC to India. There was no Ministerial Meeting in 2002 and 2004 because the AMM meeting was held in Brunei and Indonesia respectively.

See Also

  • ASEAN–India Free Trade Area
    ASEAN–India Free Trade Area
    The ASEAN–India Free Trade Area is a free trade area among the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and India. The initial framework agreement was signed on 8 October 2003 in Bali, Indonesia. and the final agreement was on 13 August 2009...

  • Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation
  • Comprehensive Economic Partnership for East Asia
    Comprehensive Economic Partnership for East Asia
    The Comprehensive Economic Partnership for East ASIA is a Japanese led proposal for trade co-operation, free trade agreement, among the 16 present member countries of the East Asia Summit.- Countries involved :The 16 countries are:...

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