The 2019 Yunnan Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Series and Lancang-Mekong Week was launched at the Kunming-based Yunnan University on March 18.

Jointly held by Yunnan Provincial Government, Yunnan Foreign Affairs Office, Yunnan University and Yunnan Education Press, the Lancang-Mekong week will see forums, performances and exhibitions held to mark the third anniversary of the launch of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism. 

More than 200 representatives from in-Kunming consulates, local governments, universities and companies attended the launching ceremony, including Lao consul general Khamphone Vongsanty, Myanmar consul general U Soe Paing, Cambodian consul general Lem Puthviro, and Malaysian consul general Faizal Bin Shani.

The cultural week came into being at the second leaders’ meeting on Lancang-Mekong cooperation held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in January 2018, when leaders from the six countries agreed to set the week starting from March 23 each year as the “Lancang-Mekong Week”.

This year’s Lancang-Mekong week lasts from March 18 to 24. Following the launching, more than 30 related events will be held in succession within 2019, including seminars on Lancang-Mekong Cooperation, think-tank forums on building the Lancang-Mekong economic belt, and roundtable dialogues on the Lancang-Mekong environmental cooperation.