Minister of Foreign Affairs Saleumxay Kommasith met with his counterparts from friendly countries on the sidelines of the 50^th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and related meetings in the Philippines on Aug 4-8, 2017.

H.E Mr. Saleumxay Kommasith, Foreign Minister of the Lao PDR, led the Lao Delegation to attend the 10th Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) Ministerial Meeting chaired by United States Secretary of State, Mr. Rex Tillerson, which took place in Manila, on 6^th August 2017.

On 7^th August 2017, H.E Mr. Saleumxay Kommasith, Foreign Minister of the Lao PDR and his delegation attended the 8th Mekong-Ganga Cooperation Ministerial Meeting in Manila, Philippines.

The meeting was entitled Build Better Connectivity for Sustainable Development and co-chaired by India and Myanmar. Joining them were by Ministers of Foreign affairs from Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and delegations.

The meeting highly valued the implementation of the action plan under the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation Framework for 2016-2018, aimed at promoting integration for cooperation in four sectors of tourism, education, culture, and transport.

It reviewed and forecast progress in new cooperation projects such as science and technology, health, small and medium enterprise (SME). The meeting also discussed the cooperative plan in the future focused on the connectivity for sustainable development.

The meeting adopted the 8^th Mekong-Ganga Cooperation Ministerial Meeting Joint declaration.