The Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area

Abstract

In March this year, leaders from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam gathered in Hanoi for their tenth biannual summit, focused on deepening comprehensive cooperation among the three countries and building “integrated, sustainable and prosperous CLV economies”, which is believed to be an “indispensable part of ASEAN Community Vision 2025”. The leaders declared a new chapter in the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area (CLV-DTA) based on the fact that it was the first time that ASEAN, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the World Bank (WB) attended the summit—illustrating the increasing interest from regional and global institutions in the development triangle. At the summit, the Vietnamese chair highlighted the achievements of the cooperation programmes especially in socio-economic development involving 13 border provinces. The three countries lauded the benefits in the areas of security and politics, economy, and education, which had helped to reduce development disparities among the localities.