Cambodia, Lao PDR and Viet Nam have agreed to expand their ongoing triangular cooperation in the application of nuclear technology, and to extend their cooperation agreement for a further five years.
The three countries have been working together since September 2019, when, following months of deliberations, national representatives signed a series of Practical Arrangements (PAs) establishing a framework for South-South cooperation in non-destructive testing (NDT), nuclear medicine and mutation breeding. Last month, on the margins of the 66th IAEA General Conference, delegates from the three Southeast Asian countries met once again to expand their triangular cooperation into new areas of activity, and to extend this cooperation for an additional five years.
On 27 September, the Deputy Minister of Science and Technology of Viet Nam, Le Xuan Dinh; the State Secretary of Mines and Energy of Cambodia, Ung Eang; the Deputy Minister of Education and Sport of Lao PDR, Sourioudong Sundara and IAEA Deputy Director General Hua Liu signed Practical Arrangements through which Viet Nam will support both short- and long-term education and training programmes in Cambodia and Lao PDR, with the Agency acting as an intermediary.
Viet Nam will furthermore backstop the national technical cooperation programmes of its neighbours by providing experts and lecturers to institutions of nuclear science and technology in Cambodia and Lao PDR. Viet Nam will also make its technical facilities, including analytical laboratories, available to the other signatories of the Arrangements, which will ensure that Viet Nam’s multi-faceted support includes practical and hands-on elements.