South Korea is determined to expand its involvement in developing the Mekong River and prosper on par with the countries along its basin, including Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Thursday following talks with Laotian President Bounnhang Vorachith in the Laotian capital of Vientiane
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th September, 2019) South Korea is determined to expand its involvement in developing the Mekong River and prosper on par with the countries along its basin, including Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Thursday following talks with Laotian President Bounnhang Vorachith in the Laotian capital of Vientiane.During the visit, Moon stopped by the Mekong river area where Seoul and Vientiane carry out a joint project on water security and integrated river basin management.
"South Korea hopes to prosper together with Mekong countries and expects the 'miracle of the Han River' to lead to the 'miracle of the Mekong River,'" Moon said, as quoted by the Yonhap new agency.
The Han River Miracle that he referred to is a commonly accepted way of addressing the rapid economic growth of South Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War when the country transformed from a developing into a developed one. The Mekong River basin, covering over a million square miles and a combined population of around 326 million, has been recently attracting growing attention from the state and non-state actors all across Asia and other parts of the worlds.
"South Korea will support the construction of roads, bridges, railways and ports among Mekong nations," Moon said.
His vision of South Korea's involvement in the Mekong region rests on three key pillars, namely experience sharing, sustainable growth, and co-prosperity of East Asia. According to the South Korean president, his country can bring a lot on board given its extensive experience on rural development and management of human resources.
He expressed hope to discuss the matter further at the first South Korean-Mekong summit, which is scheduled to be held in Busan in November and be attended by all Greater Mekong Subregion nations but China.
Among other states which have actively engaged in developing the Mekong region are Japan, which has invested at least $6.6 billion in advancing the region's connectivity, and the United States, which has launched jointly with Tokyo a multi-million energy project dubbed Japan-United States Mekong Power Partnership.
