Backgrounder: Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam (CLMV) Summit

HANOI, The 4th Summit of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) will open on Thursday in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The CLMV Summit is an annual event. The first CLMV Summit was held in November 2004 in Vientiane, Laos, with the adoption of the Vientiane Declaration on enhancing economic cooperation and integration among CLMV countries.

According to the Vientiane Declaration, the seven areas of cooperation among CLMV countries are as follows: trade and investment, agriculture, industry and energy, transport, information technology, tourism and human resource development.

The Declaration showed strong commitment of CLMV countries to strengthen and enhance cooperation among CLMV countries and promote CLMV integration into cooperation frameworks under the Mekong sub-region, ASEAN and the whole region.

The Declaration also called for international assistance for CLMV countries to narrow the development gap between them and other regional countries.

Each year, the CLMV Senior Officials' Meeting and Ministerial Meeting are held prior to the CLMV Summit.