The 13th Conference of Economic Ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam (CLMV EMM 13) was recently held online, chaired by Myanmar. CLMV EMM 13 becomes an important support channel, effectively contributing to this process, in the context of Southeast Asian countries (ASEAN) attempting to control the Covid-19 pandemic and recover their economy.

In 2003, the CLMV cooperation mechanism was established. This is one of the efforts to meet the objectives of the Mekong sub-region and ASEAN's integration. CLMV cooperation is based on the idea of closing the development gap in order to promote the integration of CLMV countries into the region's common development process.

Cooperation with CLMV aims to promote the benefits and potential of CLMV countries' existing cooperation while also serving as a channel to solicit support for CLMV countries from other ASEAN countries and development partners. CLMV cooperation also serves as a forum for CLMV countries to coordinate their positions and contribute to the protection of their interests in the ASEAN economic integration process, as well as between ASEAN and other partners (China, Japan, Korea). CLMV collaborates in six areas: trade and investment, agriculture, industry and energy, transportation, tourism, and human resource development.

Plan for economic recovery after the pandemic.

One of the main issues discussed by the four CLMV economic ministers at this conference is the economic recovery plan after the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the next steps to promote trade, investment, and strengthen connectivity among CLMV countries.

2021 will be a difficult year for countries around the world, with many challenges, as the pandemic situation remains complicated and likely to worsen. However, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, trade and investment in the CLMV region will continue to grow in 2020 and the first months of 2021, contributing to the overall growth of the ASEAN region. This is a positive outcome that reflects countries' efforts in both epidemic prevention and economic recovery.

To continue implementing the economic recovery plan and promote trade and investment, CLMV economic ministers shared information and experiences on policies and measures to respond to the epidemic and restore their own economy, propose solutions to promote trade, investment, and cooperation, and strengthen connectivity among CLMV countries. One of these measures is that the CLMV countries continue to facilitate each other's import and export activities, particularly customs clearance at border gates; and encourage the strengthening of linkages between CLMV enterprises in the fields of processing and exporting agricultural products and food, with the goal of forming regional supply chains led by CLMV. The CLMV countries also agreed to improve connectivity in line with the ASEAN Connectivity Master Plan goals for 2025.

Accelerating ASEAN's common economic recovery.

The most difficult challenge in ASEAN integration is closing the development gap between ASEAN members, particularly between CLMV countries and the rest of ASEAN. Meanwhile, the region's economic recovery remains fragile due to disruptions in reopening in member countries caused by new COVID-19 outbreaks with new variants. Despite this, trade and investment in the CLMV region will continue to grow in 2020 and the first months of 2021, contributing to ASEAN's overall growth. In general, the ASEAN economy is still considered to be positive. The region's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow by 4% in 2021 and reach 5.2% in 2022.

CLMV countries have recently implemented the CLMV Economic Cooperation Action Plan, and they work closely together in trade promotion activities such as organizing fairs and exhibitions, promoting trade and investment, and assisting small, medium, and micro enterprises through "B2B matching" connections (connecting business to business)... In the context of the region's efforts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, continuing to promote and maintain effective CLMV cooperation will help narrow the development gap between member countries and promote ASEAN's common economic recovery process.