Lancang-Mekong Cooperation

General Studies: 2

Myanmar’s military government hosted the first high-level regional meeting since the Army took power last year with China’s Foreign Minister and counterparts from Mekong Delta nations.

• The delegations met at the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation group meeting held under the theme “Solidarity for Peace and Prosperity” in the central city of Bagan, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• China is Myanmar’s biggest trading partner and an old ally.
• Beijing has invested billions of dollars in Myanmar’s mines, oil and gas pipelines and other infrastructure and is its major arms supplier, together like Russia.

Lancang-Mekong Cooperation

• Lancang-Mekong Cooperation is a multilateral format established in 2016 for cooperation between the riparian states of the Lancang River and Mekong River.
• The Lancang is the part of the Mekong that flows through China.
• Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand are five downstream countries of the Mekong River.
• The central purpose of the format is for China to manage water flow from its hydropower dams with the other riparian states.
• LMC Special Fund was created in 2016 to aid in small and medium-sized projects by the Lancang-Mekong countries.