Phnom Penh (FN), Sep. 26 – Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet explained the purpose and reasoning behind the establishment of CLMV, an ASEAN mechanism created in 2000 to promote the development of the four new ASEAN members: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Viet Nam.

The premier spoke on Thursday (Sep. 26) during a graduation of 3,530 students of the Royal University of Law and Economics (RULE) in Phnom Penh.

"When Cambodia, Myanmar, Viet Nam, and Laos joined ASEAN, they were referred to as the four new ASEAN countries. ASEAN has ten member states, and in 2000, these four economies were weaker compared to the other members. Upon joining the six stronger ASEAN economies, concerns arose about the economic gap. Among the ten members, six were strong, while four were weaker. How could they move forward together?”, the premier stated.

He continued, “[...] As a solution, the CLMV bloc was created, a decision made by all ten ASEAN countries in 2000. This initiative aimed for the six stronger economies to assist the four newer members in growing faster, ensuring successful ASEAN integration, similar to the European Union as same as West and East Germany united despite fears of disparity, ASEAN introduced a package to support each other's growth, ensuring no one was left behind.”

Samdech Thipadei made these remarks in response to a small number of opposition groups voicing criticism of the CLMV project and encouraging people to oppose it, calling for the government to withdraw from both CLMV and CLV-DTA.

It is worth noting that in 2019, former Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen stressed that the goal of CLMV cooperation is to strengthen macroeconomic stability, deepen structural reforms in each country, and enhance cooperation to bring economies and people closer together.
=FRESH NEWS