Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia Economic Relations in the New Context: Perspectives from Vietnam

Abstract

Vietnam - Laos - Cambodia cooperation in general and in the economic sector in particular, though undergoing ups and downs, has gradually strengthened and developed. Economic cooperation has been proven throughout its development a strong tie in both bilateral and multilateral relations. As evidence, Vietnam is one of the leading trade and investment partners to her two Indochina neighboring countries. Meanwhile, Cambodia and Laos are important markets of Vietnam. At present, there have seen numerous changes in the regional and international context, which are likely to drastically affect the economic cooperation among the three countries. From the perspective of Vietnam, the paper identifies factors affecting economic cooperation among the three countries in the new regional and international context, assessing the status of their economic cooperation, thereby highlighting the prospects of the three countries’ economic relations towards a prosperous and sustainable development for Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and the entire Indochina region in the changing regional and global context.