4th batch of Mekong-Lancang cooperation special fund projects launched

The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation held the Launching Ceremony of the Fourth Batch of Mekong- Lancang Cooperation Special Fund Projects yesterday in Nay Pyi Taw.
The ceremony was addressed by Union Minister U Tin Htut Oo, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Myanmar Mr Chen Hai, and Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Daw Marlar Than Htike. Director-General of the Department of Planning U Kyaw Swe Lin presented the projects.
The ceremony was also attended by Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Dr Aung Gyi, the Permanent Secretary, Directors-General of the departments and project officials.
The Mekong-Lancang Cooperation was jointly initiated and developed in 2016 by China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, the countries along the Mekong River, where historical and cultural relations and customs are intertwined. It aims to focus on bridging the development gap and achieving sustainable development among the regional members based on good-neighbourly friendship for economic and social development.
According to the Sanya Declaration of the first Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Leaders’ Meeting, the member countries are cooperating in five priority areas: Integration, cooperation to increase productivity, cross-border economic cooperation, cooperation in water resources, and agriculture and poverty alleviation, with a spirit of transparency and inclusiveness.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation is also implementing agricultural development and poverty alleviation projects in the Mekong-Lancang projects and a total of 24 projects (5 projects in the first batch in 2017; 9 projects in the second batch in 2018; 6 projects in the third batch in 2020; 4 projects in the fourth batch in 2021) have been implemented with the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Special Fund.
According to the projects approved for implementation in 2021, projects to improve the socio-economic life and income of rural households related to bamboo shoots production, to provide technical support to smallholder farmers in Macadamia for potential crop markets, to increase revenue from quality coffee production through packaging technologies, projects to develop a vaccine against cross-border animal infections and infections transmitted between humans and animals will be implemented. The implementation of these projects will reduce the poverty of the rural people who are engaged in agriculture-related livelihoods and contribute to their socio-economic development.
Despite challenges such as transportation constraints and increased input costs due to natural disasters, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts are being made to achieve the expected results as per the fund and negotiated projects. — MNA