President Moon Jae-in says that synergy would be created by putting together South Korea's experience in economic development and the dynamics of the Mekong River region.
At a summit with the five Mekong River countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam held in Busan on Wednesday, Moon said that with the six countries joining hands, the “Miracle on the Han River” will continue to manifest as miracles on the Mekong River.
The “Miracle on the Han River” is a term that refers to South Korea’s rapid economic development in the latter half of the 20th century.
Moon said that since the 1980s, cooperation in the Mekong region has changed peoples’ lives, adding that South Korea's dreams of continental and oceanic co-prosperity have long fit the dynamics of the Mekong region.
He said South Korea has become a “special friend” of the Mekong region, pointing out that trade between South Korea and the region’s countries more than doubled over the past eight years to 84-and-a-half billion U.S. dollars.
The president said investment increased one-point-seven times to three-point-eight billion dollars in the same time period, adding that the Mekong region has become a core development partner that accounts for 20 percent of South Korea's official development assistance.
He praised the Mekong countries for forging a new order built on the "Asian spirit" of mutual respect and achieving sustainable development and six percent annual economic growth.