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India, Cambodia ink 2 MoUs for bilateral cooperation in Tourism, Mekong Ganga Project

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With commerce, culture and connectivity driving India-ASEAN relations, Vice President Hamid Ansari signed two Memorandums of Understanding on tourism and on the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation Initiative with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in Phnom Penh.

The Mekong-Ganga MoU related to five “quick impact projects

  • $50,000 grant to Cambodia for the upgradation of an Entrepreneurship Development Centre
  • Two in healthcare, especially to do with malaria
  • One on agriculture and
  • One on women’s empowerment

The tourism MoU was aimed at boosting tourist movement between the two countries.

 About Mekong – Ganga Cooperation

  • The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) was established in 2000 at Vientiane, Laos, at the First MGC Ministerial Meeting.
  • It comprises six member countries, namely India, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam; which are also ASEAN members states
  • They emphasized four areas of cooperation, which are tourism, culture, education, and transportation linkage.

Total bilateral trade for 2013-2014 between India and Cambodia was USD 153.98 million (Indian export of USD 141.26 million and import of USD 12.72 million).

Keys

  • Cambodia capital – Phnom Penh
  • Cambodia currency – Cambodian riel
  • Cambodia President – Hun Sen
  • The Mekong-India Economic Corridor (MIEC) connects the basins of rivers the Ganga and the Brahmaputra – with the valleys and deltas of the Mekong River.