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Chairmen at the conference |
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Attending the conference, there were 24 delegates of Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS): Prof.Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang, Member of the Party Central Committee, President of VASS; Prof.Dr. Nguyen Quang Thuan, Deputy President of VASS; and scholars and managers from VASS member departments and units. On the side of the Vietnamese Embassy in Laos, there was the presence of Dr. Nguyen Manh Hung, Embassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to Laos.
From Cambodia, there were 26 delegates of Royal Academy of Cambodia (RAC): Dr. Khrot Thi Da, President of RAC; Prof. Chan Som Bun, Deputy President of RAC; and scholars and managers from departments of RAC.
There were 60 delegates of Laos, including Assoc.Prof.Dr. Thongsalit MangnoMek, Acting President of LASS; Dr. Khamphon Bunadi, Deputy President of LASS; Dr. Silamun Thalavong, Deputy President of LASS; and scholars and managers from LASS departments and units. The conference also received the representatives from Lao ministries and agencies as well as the presence of Mr. Khambay Damlat, Member of the Central Committee of Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, Secretary of Kham Muon Provincial Party Committee, Governor of Kham Muon province.
Chairpersons of the opening session included Assoc.Prof.Dr. Thongsalit MangnoMek, Acting President of LASS; Mr. Khambay Damlat, Member of the Central Committee of Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, Secretary of Kham Muon Provincial Committee of the Party, Governor of Kham Muon province; Prof.Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang, Member of the Party Central Committee, President of VASS; Dr. Khrot Thi Da, President of RAC.
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Prof.Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang, President of VASS delivering welcome speech at the conference |
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The welcome speech at the conference was delivered by the Act Acting President of LASS, the Governor of Kham Muon province, the President of VASS and the President of RAC.
In his a welcome speech, Prof.Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang, President of VASS, emphasized that the three countries of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were situated between the two growth poles of the world, China and India. With the advantages of economic geographical and economic political locations, the world recognized the role of these three countries as a bridge of regional development and in settling common problems of the region, of which sustainable development was one of the most interested issues.
Thus, the major countries in the world had been rethinking of the cooperation modes and identifying the priorities for an effective cooperation with Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. It promised to bring about opportunities to strengthen cooperation between the three countries and expand the cooperation with other countries in the region, but also pose challenges in the context of fast changing world and unpredictable factors. The cooperation between the three countries, therefore, should be reassessed from the perspective of sustainable development, in order to make good use of opportunities and overcome challenges to have breakthrough development and deliver the three countries from being regarded as the ‘low-lying area’ among the ASEAN countries.
VASS appreciated the remarkable achievements within the cooperation framework of the three countries in social science in the passing time. This cooperation of the three countries had made significant progress on the roadmap set up by the leaderships of the three academies at the first annual international conference organized in Da Nang city, Vietnam in 2012.
The position of the social sciences in sustainable development in each country and in the region, hence, was gradually affirmed. This was a model of cooperation towards strengthening research coordination and policy recommendation at the macro level in order to achieve the goal of sustainable development in the sub-region. At the same time, the cooperation with other countries and external partners, first of which were the countries and partners in the Mekong Sub-region, ASEAN and Asia, should be expanded.
It required the three countries to have a general direction of sustainable development to address challenges, restrict risks in development, and position the role of social sciences in the sustainable development of each country. The direction should be based on the views of sharing common interest in natural resources, environment, human resources, investment and cross-border trade activities, while preserving and promoting the cultural values, settling ethnic and religious issues in the sub-region and protecting the national sovereignty.
It was also necessary to form a legal framework for the cooperation in terms the sustainable development in the sub-region, a very new concept in the cooperative programs. The research programs should be built on the foundation of scientific and practical initiatives and the reality of the development in the three countries. By doing this, it was expected to make an important contribution to making policies and giving solutions and decisions of the Governments and management and policy-making agencies.
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An overview of the conference |
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VASS always attached importance to the comprehensive cooperation with LASS and RAC, as well as the partnerships with the countries interested in the common issues of sub-regional development. VASS affirmed to be an active and responsible member for this mechanism of cooperation, as well as to continue the contribution to enhancing the strong and effective cooperation between the three institutions and to position the role of social sciences in sustainable development in each country and the sub-region.
After the introductory speech of Dr. Khamphon Bunadi, Deputy President of LASS, the conference was divided into four sessions.
Session 1: The role of social science in sustainable development was chaired by Dr. Khamphon Bunadi, Deputy President of LASS. There were three papers: 1) The role of the social sciences in sustainable development in Laos (Dr. Silamun Thalavong, Deputy President of LASS); 2) Sustainable development and the role of social science in sustainable development in Vietnam (Assoc.Prof.Dr. Pham Van Duc, Director General of the Institute of Philosophy, VASS); and 3) The role of social science in sustainable development in Cambodia: Application of educational policy in sustainable development in Cambodia (Dr. Som Sommuny, RAC).
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Prof.Dr. Nguyen Quang Thuan, Deputy President of VASS chaired the Session 2 |
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Session 2: Economic growth towards sustainable development chaired by Prof.Dr. Nguyen Quang Thuan, Deputy President of VASS, received four presentations: 1) Economic growth towards sustainable development in Vietnam (Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Duy Dung, Director General of Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, VASS); 2) Economic growth through sustainable development in Cambodia (Prof. Heng Bunsong, RAC); 3) Economic growth towards sustainable development in Laos (Dr. Libolo Buapao, Research Institute of National Economy, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Laos); and 4) Sustainable development in Rural areas in Laos (Dr. Subanseng Sulivong, Deputy Head of Organizing Committee and Central Office, Office of the Prime Minister, Laos).
Session 3: Socio-economic development in association with environmental protection was chaired by Prof. Chan Som Bun, Deputy President of RAC. The session included three presentations: 1) Socio-economic development in association with environmental protection (Dr. Sun Sot, Director of Institute of Biology, Pharmacology and Agriculture, Cambodia); 2) Sustainable management of natural resources and the environment in Laos (Mr. Khampadit Khammunhuong, Director of Department of Environmental Quality Promotion, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Laos); and 3) Socio-economic development associated with environmental protection: Theoretical and practical issues in Vietnam (Assoc.Prof.Dr. Dang Nguyen Anh, Director General of Institute of Sociology, VASS).
Session 4: The role of culture in sustainable development was chaired by Dr. Silamun Thalavong, Deputy President of LASS, including four presentations: 1) The role of culture in sustainable development in Laos (Mr. Somseng Xaynhavong, Director of the Institute of Cultural Studies, LASS); 2) Strengthening the role of culture for sustainable development in Cambodia (Prof. Heng Bunsong, RAC); 3) The role of culture in sustainable development through the study of traditional festivals in Vietnam (Prof.Dr. Le Hong Ly, Director General of Institute of Cultural Studies, VASS); and 4) Development of human resources is the key to sustainable development in Laos (Dr. Khamphengthip Muntaly, Director of Institute of Sociology, LASS).
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Group photo of the delegation of VASS, Acting President of LASS and the Governor of Kham Muon province |
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Delivering the concluding speech, Prof.Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang, President of VASS, said the conference showed high awareness of the sustainable development as a crucial issue of the development and the consistency in the important role of social science in sustainable development.
All countries had strategies and policies for sustainable development in order to implement their Millennium goals. As followers in building strategy and policy for overall development, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia had to find harmonious solutions to complicated and tricky relationships, such as the relationship between rapid and sustainable growth, and between the quantity and quality of growth, or to address the institutional issues, and transforming the brown economy into green economy, and the model of in-width development to the model of in-depth development, etc. Building right and appropriate policies required scientific grounds, which were based on research activities, investigation, surveys and the construction of databases, and data mapping. That was the task of the researchers in social sciences.
The thinking about institutions for development should be based on four principles: i) to be stemmed from domestic demand and the right assessment of specific conditions of each country; ii) to learn from international experiences and only employ international standards when there was a deep integration and take into account the specific conditions of each country; iii) to strengthen the coordination and regional linkages; and iv) to fortify the international cooperation and coordination in policy making. Institutions for development must be constructed in compliance with the principles of market economy, international integration and people-oriented, which meant to allow people to have the opportunity to participate, monitor and benefit from the process of development. That was the message to be promoted, based on which the cooperative mechanisms for the three countries should be built, as the desire of leaders from LASS, RAC and VASS.
After Assoc.Prof.Dr. Thongsalit MangnoMek, Acting President of LASS, delivered closing remarks, Dr. Khrot Thi Da, President of RAC, received the host for the third annual conference in Cambodia in 2014 on the topic of “The cooperation of the three countries of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam towards the ASEAN Community in 2015: New problems and solutions”.
The signing ceremony of cooperation agreement between LASS and RAC then took place in the witness of VASS. /.
Vu Hung Cuong (Ph.D)
