Related
The six member nations were expected to discuss and approve the Vientiane Action Plan for 2008-12 while also further discussing ways to boost connectivity in transportation and co-operation between State-owned and private sectors to develop trade and investment in the region.
Vietnam and Cambodia
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his Cambodian counterpart, Hun Sen, have agreed to speed up projects Viet Nam has been carrying out in Cambodia.
At their meeting in Vientiane yesterday on the eve of the GMS Summit, the government leaders agreed to intensify the two countries' co-operation in order to tap their potentials in such fields as oil and gas, electricity, mining, agriculture and construction materials.
The two leaders said they were determined to bring bilateral trade between Viet Nam and Cambodia to US$2 billion by 2010.
Vietnam and Laos
Dung first met with Lao President and General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Choumaly Saynhasone, as well as the the Prime Minister of Laos, Bouasone Bouphavanh.
Each expressed satisfaction at the fast-growing development of effective and practical relations in commerce, trade and investment between Laos and Viet Nam, and they pledged to bring two-way trade to US$1 billion by 2010, $2 billion by 2015 and US$5 billion by 2020.
They also agreed to speed up co-operation and investment in hydroelectric projects, mining, cultivation of cash crops and international transportation.
"The success will prove the increasing prestige of Laos in the regional and international arena," emphasised Dung.
Vietnam and the Asian Development Bank
ADB is willing to assist Viet Nam in implementing infrastructure projects, build its institutional capacity and create a more favourable investment and business environment.
ADB-financed transportation and infrastructure projects in Viet Nam will be launched in the near future, raising the bank's total funding for Vietnamese projects to billions of US dollars.
Vietnam and GMS Plan
Viet Nam supports the drafting of an action plan to accelerate the liberalisation and facilitation of trade and investment among countries of the Greater Mekong Sub-region, Dung told a forum on GMS business and investment held yesterday in Vientiane on the threshold of the GMS Summit opening today.
Dung suggested that regional countries take advantage of the regional road system and work to boost investment, trade, tourism and cultural exchange and stressed the need for a policy to support and boost the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises in the region.
Dung attended a youth forum Sunday 30 March, where he applauded youth suggestions on regional integration process.
Vietnam and China Transport MoU
China and Viet Nam signed a memorandum of understanding yesterday to expand the GMS Cross-Border Transport Agreement.
The agreement, a multilateral instrument for the facilitation of cross-border transport of goods and people in six countries sharing the Mekong River - Laos, China, Viet Nam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Thailand -aims to help speed the movement of cargo and passengers in the sub-region by streamlining regulations and eliminating non-physical barriers.
The agreement covers all relevant aspects of cross-border transportation, including one-stop and single-window customs inspections; cross-border movement of people, including visas for persons engaged in transport operations; transit traffic regimes, including exemptions from physical customs inspection, bond deposit, escort, and phytosanitary and veterinary inspection; requirements that road vehicles will have to meet to be eligible for cross-border traffic; exchange of commercial traffic rights; and infrastructure, including road and bridge design standards, and road signs and signals.
April 1, 2008
| 0 Comment(s) |
sponsors
