Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos unveil new economic roadmap
Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos unveil new economic roadmap
Agence France-Presse
Bagan, Myanmar
The leaders of Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos on
Wednesday announced a new economic roadmap aimed at accelerating
growth and lifting the region's people out of poverty.
At a one-day summit in Myanmar's ancient former capital they
signed the Bagan declaration which committed them to boost trade
and investment, improve agricultural and industrial cooperation
and promote tourism and job creation.
The four leaders said the Economic Cooperation Strategy (ECS)
initiative will "act as a catalyst to promote regional
cooperation".
They pledged to work together "to fully harness their enormous
economic potential to promote spontaneous and sustainable
economic development, and to uplift the welfare and quality of
life of our citizens".
The agreement was signed by Myanmar's Prime Minister General
Khin Nyunt and his counterparts from Thailand, Thaksin
Shinawatra, Cambodia's Hun Sen and Boungnang Vorachit from Laos.
Despite frequent rows and prickly relationships between some
of the nations, they said they aim to boost prosperity through
"enhanced solidarity, mutual respect, close friendship, good
neighborliness and active cooperation".
The ECS is an initiative of Thailand's Thaksin, who said on
the weekend that the kingdom would benefit from bridging the
economic divide with its poorer nabbers.
"It would be more practical if we help them by creating jobs
and encouraging them to solve their internal problems," he said.
"Brush them off and we'll suffer. Drugs, illegal migrants and
crime are really big problems."
The Nation newspaper quoted him as saying during a visit to
Yangon which preceded the summit that the combined economic
output of the three neighboring countries was less than 10
percent of Thailand's gross domestic product (GDP).
Thaksin has said he would use the talks to press Myanmar's
ruling generals to speed up the resettlement of thousands of
migrants returning home from Thailand, where they fled to escape
political repression and grinding poverty.
About a million Myanmar nationals are thought to be working in
Thailand, around half of them illegally, providing a perennial
irritant to the troubled bilateral relationship.
However, Thaksin has signaled the issue of detained Myanmar
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will not be on the agenda of
the summit, despite intense international pressure for the junta
to release her from house arrest.
The Bangkok Post said in an editorial Wednesday that Thaksin
should use his influence to push for change in the region and
particularly in Myanmar which is widely condemned for its poor
human rights record and refusal to recognize the opposition's
1990 election victory.
"Thaksin can do much in Burma to advance a solution to that
country's terrible circumstances," it said, using Myanmar's
former name.
"It is not only the poverty in Burma that is forcing
immigrants to flee to Thailand but also the dire economic and
political straits bedeviling Cambodia."
Cambodia has been plunged into political limbo since July
elections in which Hun Sen's Cambodia's People's Party failed to
capture the two-thirds majority it needed to rule in its own
right, forcing it to seek coalition partners.
The four nations agreed to hold the ECS summit meet every two
years, with Thailand to hold the next meeting in 2005. Ministers
and senior officials are to meet annually.
Thailand also signed four energy deals, two with Myanmar and
one each with Laos and Cambodia.