Following the signature of two separate but complementary Practical Arrangements (PAs) on 17 September, the IAEA has established a new framework for south-south cooperation involving three Member States in the Asia and Pacific region alongside with the IAEA.
The Arrangements provide a framework for collaboration in a broad range of priority areas, from non-destructive testing and other industrial applications to nuclear medicine and mutation breeding. In this new framework, Viet Nam is expected to support both short- and long-term education and training programmes in Cambodia and Lao PDR. Additionally, Viet Nam will help bolster the national TC programmes of its neighbours by providing experts and lecturers to nuclear science and technology institutions in Cambodia and Laos, and by making its own technical facilities available to the other signatories of the Arrangements, including analytical laboratories, which will ensure that their multi-faceted support includes practical and hands-on dimensions.
The operationalization of these Arrangements follows months of deliberations, facilitated by the Agency, and will mark the first time such a triangular approach has been formalized through PAs. The Arrangements, which cover an initial period of three years, will leverage contributions and resources from Viet Nam to support the implementation of the IAEA’s technical cooperation (TC) programme and to promote greater technical cooperation among developing countries (TCDC).
The genesis of these Practical Arrangements, which were signed on the margins of the IAEA’s 63rd General Conference, can be traced back to August 2016, when authorities in Viet Nam expressed interest in supporting their neighbouring countries in the safe application of nuclear science and technologies. In advance of the 2020-2021 TC cycle, the Agency facilitated tripartite discussions, needs assessments and the development of a road map, which lead directly to the development and signature of these Practical Arrangements.
