Minister of State (MOS), External Affairs V Muraleedharan addressed the 6th India-CLMV (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar & Vietnam) Business Conclave 2020: “Building Bridges for Constructive Development” held in CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) HIVE, the virtual platform of CII from December 3-4, 2020. The conclave was organised by the CII, in partnership with the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry was the Chief Guest at the event.
Objective:
To Strengthen India’s Cooperation with CLMV Countries.
Key Points:
i.India invited CLMV countries to join the International Solar Alliance & Resilient Supply Chain Initiative, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and participate in activities of seven pillars of Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI), which has synergies with ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific (AOIP).
ii.The Muraleedharan stated that India and the CLMV countries are working to develop renewable sources of energy and also forming partnerships to penetrate global value chains.
iii.He also highlighted that India trained medical personnel from the CLMV nations region under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme.
iv.He also stated that India is seeking to increase cooperation and collaboration with the CLMV region to develop a vaccine for COVID-19, and will share the vaccine when it is ready.
Highlights from the Conclave:
India:
i.India proposed to knot together all the rail networks of the region to promote tourism in terms of Buddhist circuit.
ii.It highlighted the setting up of Integrated Checkpost at Moreh, Manipur.
iii.Setting up of Project Development Fund titled ‘PDF-CLMV Fund’ for the CLMV region with a corpus of INR 500 Crores.The development fund was to help incentivise Indian Private Sector Companies to set up manufacturing facilities in the CLMV region.
iv.Lines of Credit extended by India to the Mekong Region, CLMV countries are part of the region.
v.Construction of Trilateral Highway (India, Myanmar & Thailand) and the Kaladan Multimodal Transit-Transport Project to promote connectivity in the region.
Lao PDR:
i.Lao PDR (People’s Democratic Republic) stated that India and CLMV countries need to work together to improve productivity in Agriculture, Promote Infrastructure in the region, and also improve the ease of doing Business.
ii.India and Lao PDR cooperate closely in sectors such as Information Technology (IT), Renewable Energy, Drugs and Pharmaceuticals and Infrastructure Development.
Cambodia:
India & CLMV countries to focus on improving trade facilitation, logistics and creation of single window clearance mechanism and E-commerce and Digital Economy fields.
Virtual Exhibition:
A virtual exhibition spread over 15 days where India and CLMV countries showcase their products & services from sectors like Agriculture (Agri & Food Processing, Farm inputs & Allied Services), Manufacturing and Light Industry (Automobiles, Textile and Machine Tools), Power & Clean Energy, Infrastructure, Transport & Logistics, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, IT, Skills & Education.
Importance of CLMV Countries:
i.The CLMV countries form the Third Largest economy in the world.
ii.India’s trade with the CLMV countries has increased from 1.5 Billion USD to 10 Billion USD
iii.The countries are rich in copper, oil, natural gas, gemstones and teak.
iv.The Countries have low incomes and are formerly closed-economies.
Recent Related News:
i.On September 12, 2020, Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan participated in the online meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) under the Chairmanship of Vietnam.
ii.On September 9 2020, V. Muraleedharan, Minister of State(MoS) for External Affairs attended the 10th East Asia Summit(EAS) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
About Confederation of Indian Industry (CII):
President – Uday Kotak
Headquarters – New Delhi
About Cambodia:
Prime Minister – Hun Sen
Capital – Phnom Penh
Currency – Riel (KHR)
About Lao PDR:
Prime Minister – Thongloun Sisoulith
Capital – Vientiane
Currency – Kip (LAK)
