On January 25, 2021, the 20th Cambodia - Laos - Myanmar - Vietnam Senior Economic Officials Meeting (CLMV SEOM) was held online. This is an important SEOM meeting of the CLMV economic cooperation mechanism.

Attending the Conference were the Heads of SEOM of CLMV countries, representatives of the ASEAN Secretariat, representatives of relevant ministries and agencies of CLMV countries participating in the CLMV economic cooperation mechanism. The conference is run by the Head of SEOM CLMV of Myanmar on a rotating basis. The participants of the Vietnamese delegation included representatives of units under the Ministry of Industry and Trade and a number of related ministries (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Education and Training). Leader of Asia - Africa Market Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade as Head of SEOM CLMV Vietnam.

SEOM CLMV 20 conference focused on discussing 06 main issues, including: (i) Results of the 12th CLMV Economic Ministers' Meeting (taken on August 24, 2020); (ii) Review the implementation of activities in the CLMV Action Plan 2019-2020; (iii) Discuss and develop the CLMV Action Plan 2021-2022; (iv) Reviewing the implementation progress of the project "Enhancing the competitiveness of ASEAN countries" within the framework of the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (COMPETE); (v) Discuss next steps to implement the CLMV Development Framework after the framework is adopted at the 10th CLMV Summit; (vi) Update on the implementation of the ASEAN Integration Initiative IAI.

For the CLMV 2019-2020 Action Plan, in 2020, due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, a number of activities and projects have been postponed or not implemented. However, with the initiative in technology transformation and application, Vietnam has: (i) implemented a number of trade and investment cooperation activities as planned, including the Vietnam Online Exhibition: Food Expo; (ii) jointly organize and complete the capacity building training course on international trade negotiation skills under the project "Promoting competition within the framework of the ASEAN Integration Initiative" (COMPETE project)” funded by the German Government; (iii) cooperate in implementing the project “Assessment of the current legal framework on e-commerce in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam funded by Japan through the ASEAN-Japan Integration Fund; (iv) coordinated implementation of the project “Simplifying business registration procedures phase II” funded by New Zealand; (v) grant annual scholarships to students from 3 CLM countries.

For the projects in the 2019-2020 Business Plan that are being postponed due to the Covid-19 epidemic, Vietnam has proactively proposed that countries change the method of organizing the implementation in the direction of increasing the application of information technology such as online meeting, online fair, online training...; agreed with other countries to continue to facilitate trade, investment and service activities, especially cross-border trade activities of the CLMV countries, to limit and remove barriers to trade. necessary to support businesses, especially micro, small and medium enterprises, to ensure the operation of supply chains.

For the development of the CLMV Action Plan for the new period (2021-2022), the Head of SEOM CLMV Vietnam emphasized that countries need to study and select the form of project implementation suitable to the "new normal" status of each country; increase the application of digital technology; promote the organization of activities in the form of online; create conditions for experts, technical staff, project staff of development partners in carrying out immigration, testing and isolation procedures.

In addition, countries need to propose more cooperation projects that bring benefits to all four CLMV countries and support the post-epidemic recovery process, especially projects on trade and investment facilitation; cooperation activities to promote trade, investment and tourism among countries; supporting projects to improve and enhance regional connectivity and the international logistics system; e-commerce; support micro, small and medium enterprises in accessing finance and technology; capacity building programs for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

 For the development of a detailed Action Plan for the implementation of the “CLMV Development Framework” after the Framework was approved by the Senior Leaders at the 10th CLMV Summit in December 2020, Vietnam proposes that countries strengthen coordination with each other to identify cooperative activities/projects that can be included in the Action Plan to concretize Vision 2030 and the goals outlined in the CLMV Development Framework.

In addition to the above main contents, the Conference also focused on discussing and updating the implementation status of the ASEAN Integration Initiative IAI, the project on Promoting Competition within the ASEAN Integration Initiative Framework (COMPETE) funded by the German Government. through the German Development Cooperation (GIZ).