Senior economic officials from Cambodia , Laos , Myanmar and Vietnam(CLMV) held a conference in Hanoi on March 7 to discuss initiativesand solutions to bridge the development gap between the four countriesand other ASEAN members.

The conference, the fifth of its kind, took place within the framework of the 9 th ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting.

Conference Chairman Aung Naing Oo, who is Head of the Myanmardelegation, said that due to the low level of CLMV development relativeto other ASEAN countries, reducing the gap is a constant challenge tothe formation of the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015.

The meeting focused on evaluating the results of the projects thatCambodia , Laos , Myanmar and Vietnam had carried out to narrowthe development gap between the four countries and other ASEAN members.

The officials agreed to promote the implementationof the projects within the framework of the Initiative for ASEANEconomic Integration (IAI) supported by the remaining six ASEAN membersand some developed countries, focusing on developing infrastructure,transport, technology and communication, human resources, povertyreduction and tourism promotion in CLMV countries.

The 6 th CLMV conference will be held in Laos at the end of 2013.
More than 200 projects are being carried out to promote theformation of the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015, including thereduction of the gap between CLMV and other ASEAN members. The projectshave received support from ASEAN’s partners such as Japan , China ,the EU and the US .

ASEAN (Association of Southeast AsianNations) comprises of 10 member countries, including Singapore,Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei, Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos,Cambodia, and Vietnam.-VNA