The Nay Pyi Taw Declaration on drug control cooperation among Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam was issued at the one-day six-Nation Ministerial Meeting held here on Thursday.

The declaration on regional drug control cooperation came out at the end of six-Nation Ministerial Meeting which was attended by ministers and representatives from six countries in addition to representatives from the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime ( UNODC).

The Nay Pyi Taw declaration noted satisfaction over the great efforts and the progress achieved by the Signatories through fruitful cooperation within various existing bilateral, sub- regional, regional and international drug control cooperation mechanisms.

The declaration appreciated the joint accomplishments of the Signatories to the 1993 Memorandum of Understanding on Drug Control and UNODC in the areas of drug demand reduction, HIV prevention, alternative development, law enforcement, in particular cross border cooperation, criminal justice and international collaboration.

It also noted that the increasing manufacture and consumption of amphetamine-type stimulants, along with rising opium cultivation, undermines regional development at significant cost to governments and citizens.

It also acknowledged that the combination of drug trafficking and other forms of transnational organized crime pose a particular challenge to the stability and rule of law in border areas.

The six nations reaffirmed in the declaration that they committed to overcome the drug problem in East Asian region, and assuring their efforts to eliminate the drug problem in the region.

In 1993, the cooperation mechanism so called MoU on drug control cooperation was signed by four nations namely Myanmar, China, Laos and Thailand through the coordination of UNDCP now UNODC.

The cooperation was extended with Cambodia and Vietnam by signing the same agreement in 1995.

Chinese delegation leader and Permanent Deputy Secretary General of National Narcotics Control Commission (NNCC) of China Liu Yuejin highlighted at the meeting that China will continue to cooperate on drug elimination with regional countries.

Chairman of the Central committee for drug Abuse Control and Myanmar Minister of Home Affairs Lt Gen Ko Ko disclosed at the press conference after the ministerial meeting that cultivation rebound again in 2007 due to its basic changing trends of the opium cultivation.

Myanmar continued to fight drug in 2013 under a revised 15-year drug eradication plan (1999-2014) which has been extended for another five year until 2019 to maintain the momentum of war against drug.

Myanmar has been implementing the 15-year plan since 1999 in three five-year phases to fight against drug.

The original plan has now reached the fourth year of the final five-year phase before it was extended.