2023 Mekong Forum unveiled in central Yunnan’s Kunming

The 2023 Mekong Forum kicked off in Kunming, the provincial capital of Yunnan, on July 27.

With the theme of “Driving Transformative Change in the Greater Mekong Sub-region”, this year’s forum was jointly organized by the Foreign Affairs Office of the People’s Government of Yunnan province and Mekong Institute.

As a platform for exchanges, it aims at boosting sub-regional economic recovery and growth, and helping achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through a series of cooperation on agriculture, trade, logistics and energy.

The opening ceremony of 2023 Mekong Forum.

The event comprises the opening ceremony, and 3 parallel forums focusing on “agricultural production and market accesses”, “trade and logistics”, as well as “clear energy and climate change”, respectively.

Suriyan Vichitlekarn, the executive director of Mekong Institute, and Thailand’s former minister of commerce Narongchai Akrasanee gave keynote speeches on the opening. Satvinder Singh, deputy secretary-general of ASEAN Economic Community, also delivered an online speech.

The forum was attended by over 200 delegates from governments, international organizations, academic institutions and as well enterprises, including the representatives from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The delegates agree that the sub-region has offered great space for expanding cooperation at all levels and in all fields. Facing current regional and global challenges, China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam should work hand in hand, strengthening connectivity and mutual understanding through multiple means, such as trade, investment and people-to-people exchanges. Meanwhile, more mechanisms and platforms should be set up to ensure efficient policy implementation.

Group photo of the main delegates who take part in the event.

During the forum, some delegates visited the Kunming Railway Vocational Technical College and Asia’s largest fresh-cut flower market in Dounan, Kunming.

Co-established by China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam in 1996, the Mekong Institute is an intergovernmental organization which dedicates to the promotion of regional integration and sustainable development through cooperation on human resources.

Since 2011 when the forum was founded, it has played a constructive role in bringing people together while contributing to the socio-economic development of the sub-region as a whole.

This is the first time that the forum has ever been held outside Thailand.

Reporting by Liu Ziyu and Wang Jingzhong; photographs by Li Wenjun (Yunnan Daily)