- The 10th Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) Ministerial Meeting was held in the Thai capital Bangkok on August 1, 2019.
- External Affairs Minister of India S Jaishankar emphasised on better connectivity between India and other member countries of the Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) bloc for developing a vibrant economic growth corridor.
- He said that connectivity is a major focus area of cooperation for India. He also said that India looks forward to the early completion of the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway and its extension to Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam. He said, the Jakarta-based Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) have been tasked to study the feasibility of developing the planned highway as a vibrant economic growth corridor. The full report is expected to be completed early next year.
- During the meeting, the new MGC Plan of Action 2019-2022 was adopted that envisages project-based cooperation in various areas including tourism and culture, education, public health and traditional medicine, agriculture and allied sectors, transport and communication, MSMEs and water resources management.
About Mekong Ganga Cooperation
- The MGC, is a sub-regional cooperation organisation comprising India and five ASEAN countries, namely, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
- MGC which takes its name from the Ganga and the Mekong, the two civilisational rivers in Southeast Asia, was launched in 2000 at Laos capital Vientiane. The MGC aims at facilitating closer contacts among the people inhabiting these two major river basins and enhancing cooperation in tourism, culture, education, transport and communications.
- Since its inception in the year 2000, Mekong Ganga Cooperation has come a long way.
