In her opening remarks, the Union minister warmly wel­comed the delegation leaders (deputy ministers), senior eco­nomic officials, and representa­tives from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, as well as the ASEAN deputy secretary-general and officials. The Union minister un­derscored that trade among the CLMV countries had reached US$883.4 billion in 2024, account­ing for approximately 23.0 per cent of total ASEAN trade, and investment among the CLMV countries increased by 3.6 per cent between 2023 and 2024. The Union minister highlighted that the implementation of CLMV Action Plans has contributed to economic growth and capacity enhancement. She added that collaborative coordination meas­ures are being undertaken to support the implementation plan of the CLMV Development Framework, which aims to re­alize a sustainable upper-mid­dle-income economy by 2030.

Afterwards, delegation heads from CLMV countries and the ASEAN deputy secre­tary-general took a commemo­rative photo.

The meeting then proceed­ed according to the agenda. The chairman of the CLMV Senior Economic Officials’ Meeting, Di­rector-General Dr Marlar Myo Nyunt of the Foreign Economic Relations Department, Ministry of Investment and Foreign Eco­nomic Relations, presented on the CLMV economic cooperation activities carried out during 2025.

The delegation leaders encouraged the CLMV Senior Economic Officials to collaborate more effectively for the better implementation of the CLMV Action Plan (2025-2026), based on the experiences gained from implementing the CLMV Action Plan (2023-2024), and to cooper­ate with the ASEAN Secretariat to secure funding for project im­plementation.

The delegation leaders highlighted the importance of trade fairs jointly organized by Vietnam with Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar in promoting trade and investment linkages among CLMV countries. They encouraged CLMV countries to further promote regional busi­ness partnerships and market opportunities through these trade fairs.

U Than Sin Lwin, Head of the Myanmar delegation, and Deputy Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations, suggested prioritizing low-hang­ing fruit in implementing the CLMV Development Frame­work and exploring the funding sources with the support of the ASEAN Secretariat, which is the main challenge in implementing the projects.

Subsequently, the delega­tion leaders deliberated upon and endorsed the Guidelines on the Coordination Mechanism for the Implementation Plan for the Framework for CLMV Develop­ment.

The meeting noted that CLMV economic cooperation activities contribute to narrow­ing the development gap among ASEAN Member States, and the support of the ASEAN Secretar­iat is deemed essential.

Moreover, the delegation leaders endorsed the Joint Me­dia Statement of the 17th CLMV Economic Ministers’ Meeting. It was noted that CLMV coun­tries continue to promote eco­nomic and trade cooperation, strengthen subregional and re­gional collaboration efforts, and implement the commitments of the CLMV Summit and the initiatives to narrow the devel­opment gap.

In the conclusion, the Union Minister conveyed her appreci­ation to Cambodia, Laos, Viet­nam, and the ASEAN Secretariat for their support of Myanmar’s chairmanship of CLMV econom­ic cooperation in 2025. She then handed over the chairmanship of the CLMV economic cooperation for 2026 to Vietnam.

The meeting was attended by a total of 50 delegates, com­prising representatives from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, the ASEAN Secretariat, and senior officials from relevant ministries of Myanmar.

In the afternoon, as a side event of the 17th CLMV Economic Ministers’ Meeting, the Vietnam– Myanmar Business Connectiv­ity Conference was held at the Melia Hotel. The event aimed to promote further trade and in­vestment cooperation between business communities from My­anmar and Vietnam.

At the conference, Dr Wah Wah Maung, Union Minister for Investment and Foreign Eco­nomic Relations, delivered the opening remarks.

The event brought together approximately 100 participants, including government officials and representatives from the private sector of both countries. Among the attendees were prom­inent entrepreneurs from key sectors such as telecommunica­tions, real estate, industrial man­ufacturing, animal feed, poultry farming, and construction. A signing ceremony followed, dur­ing which several cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed between Vietnamese and Myanmar businesses and indus­try associations.

Throughout the meeting, participants actively discussed and exchanged views on poten­tial opportunities for trade and investment cooperation, high­lighting mutual interests and exploring ways to strengthen bilateral economic relations. — MIFER