Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc addresses the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum on the Mekong Region on Tuesday in Ha Noi. — VNA/VNS Photo

The conference, entitled "Making the Mekong Mighty: Driving investment into fixed capital, human capital and network capital", focused on infrastructure, trade and investment, industrialisation and inclusive growth and the impact of the ongoing industrial revolution on the regional economies.

Addressing the opening session, Viet Nam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc highlighted the important position and role of the Mekong region in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region.

"The Mekong Region is an important hub in Asia, and a very promising market with a population of 240 million and an aggregated GDP exceeding US$660 billion," he said.

The PM, however, pointed out some challenges that the region is facing.

"The development gap of the Mekong economies and other economies within ASEAN remains wide, low wages are losing their advantage, and climate change has evolved ahead of forecasts," he said.

The PM said it was in the common interest of all to develop the Mekong region into "a politically stable, economically dynamic environmentally sustainable and socially harmonious area."

To that end, the PM suggested the regional countries boost economic connectivity, develop and connect infrastructure systems, and create favourable conditions for trade, investment and tourism, increase co-operation to achieve sustainable development, including sustainable management and usage of water resources in the Mekong River. Innovation and creativity should also be prioritised to increase productivity and take advantage of the on-going fourth industrial revolution, he added.

"Mekong countries cannot rely only on natural resources extraction and unskilled labour, but need to invest heavily in innovation and creativity to strengthen competitiveness and move up the global supply chain," he said.

Addressing the forum, leaders from other Mekong countries, including Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, and other participants emphasised the Mekong region's potential to become a major regional and global centre of production.

They also raised proposals to increase economic and infrastructure connectivity, especially transport systems in sub-regional economic corridors.

On the industrial revolution sweeping the globe, participants agreed that for Mekong countries, this revolution brings about many opportunities for accelerating industrialisation and narrowing the development gap, but also creates many challenges.

The rapid development of new technology particularly benefits farmers and small enterprises as it helps them to better connect with the outside world, according to participants.

To tackle the challenges that arise, "Mekong countries have no other choice but to increase investment in high-quality human resources and encourage innovation and creativity," said Viet Nam's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh in his closing remarks.

The deputy PM also said Mekong countries should take advantage of global and regional economic pacts to effectively join in global supply chains to promote economic growth and ties with the rest of the world.

He expressed his hope that Viet Nam can work together with WEF to create an opportunity for promoting public-private dialogue and partnerships to further develop the Mekong region.

"Viet Nam is committed to working closely with the Mekong countries to create an enabling environment for companies to do business in the region," he pledged.

Business body launched

The meeting also saw the launch of the ASEAN Regional Business Council (RBC) created to promote public-private cooperation on the most pressing issues facing Southeast Asia.

RBC is made up of 25 ASEAN companies and 30 global companies, including big names such as Viet Nam's VinaCapital Group, Malaysia's AirAsia, Philippines' SM Investments Corporation and Thailand's PTT Public Company.

"We want RBC to help present the voice of business to the government so that we can collectively deliver a positive impact in the region and ensure that the hundreds of millions of young people across ASEAN have the brightest possible future," Nazir Razak, chairman of Malaysia's CIMB Group Holdings and also chairman of the newly-established council, said.

One of its key priorities is to lift non-tariff barriers which are still rampant across ASEAN, despite the official establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community last year.

"Trade barriers have come down significantly, close to zero in most cases, but there are so many non-tariff barriers across ASEAN. We will work on these barriers by engaging the government and different sectors," Razak told Viet Nam News.

Another key action plan is to promote small and medium-sized enterprises through various programmes, including a mentoring programme, which will hopefully be launched in the next few months, according to the chairman.

"We expect to give SMEs or smaller companies opportunities to invite us, the bigger ones, to be a kind of mentor for their businesses through this programme," he said.

The council will also focus on other issues, such as building infrastructure, promoting cross-border trade and investment in ASEAN, developing a digital economy and examining the future of jobs and industry in the region.

The WEF Mekong, organised for the first time at Viet Nam's initiative, brought together national leaders from five Mekong countries and nearly 200 leading representatives from major multinationals, large ASEAN and Asia-Pacific companies, academia and civil society. It was organised alongside the eighth Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Viet Nam Summit and the seventh Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Co-operation Strategy Summit which will convene today. — VNS