Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (left) and other leaders of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) attend the GMS Business and Investment Dialogue yesterday in Laos. — VNA/VNS Photo Duc Tam31-03-2008
Ha Noi — Leaders from nations of the Greater Mekong Sub-region gathered in the Lao capital of Vientiane yesterday to discuss ways to improve co-operation and develop trade and investment in the region.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung led the Vietnamese delegation to the two-day GMS Summit, entitled Enhancing Competitiveness through Greater Connectivity, which opens today.
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.
Upon arriving in Vientiane, 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.
Dung also expressed confidence in the great success of the GMS summit.
"The success will prove the increasing prestige of Laos in the regional and international arena," emphasised Dung.
In reply, Lao leaders reiterated the nation’s policy of great respect in its relations with Viet Nam, considering it a strategic relationship in their path towards socialism.
After their talks, Dung and Bouphavanh witnessed the signing of accords on the construction of hydroelectric projects and insurance.
Hastening Cambodian projects
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.
They also noted the work of border demarcation and marker planting, pledging to make efforts to complete the work by 2012, as scheduled.
Dung and Hun Sen agreed to tighten co-ordination with other regional countries in dealing with related issues, including the use of Mekong River water resources, with the aim of ensuring the harmony of interests of related countries and preventing negative effects on the environment and downstream countries.
Hun Sen accepted Dung’s invitation to pay an official visit to Viet Nam in the near future.
ADB support
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 president Haruhiko Kuroda made the affirmation at a meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Vientiane yesterday prior to the GMS Summit.
He added that a series of ADB-financed transportation and infrastructure projects in Viet Nam would be launched in the near future, raising the bank’s total funding for Vietnamese projects to billions of US dollars.
Dung said he highly valued ADB assistance to Viet Nam through bilateral development co-operation programmes as well as within the framework of GMS cooperation.
He affirmed that Viet Nam would continue to strengthen its co-operation with the ADB in speeding up the disbursement of funds on projects in Viet Nam and improving their effectiveness.
Dung also asked the ADB to provide Viet Nam with more loans to carry out infrastructure projects, including an expressway from HCM City to the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.
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 appreciated the business circle’s recommendations regarding the harmonisation of policies and simplification of trade and investment procedures in order to reduce time and cost for business and trade in the region, thus facilitating regional investment co-operation and improving the region’s competitiveness.
He suggested that regional countries take advantage of the regional road system and work to boost investment, trade, tourism and cultural exchange.
He also 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 yesterday, where he applauded youth suggestions on regional integration process. He especially appreciated their proposals that the leaders of the regional countries help young people contribute more to the development of the region through job creation and the preservation of the region’s cultural diversity.
Transport MoU with China
China and Viet Nam signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) yesterday to include the Nanning-Ha Noi corridor and Youyiguan-Huu Nghi Border Crossing Point in the scope of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) Cross – Border Transport Agreement.
The MoU, signed by Chinese Deputy Minister of Communications Weng Mengyong and Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Transport Le Manh Hung, was a bilateral manifestation of the GMS Cross-Border Transport Agreement, ADB vice president Lawrence Greenwood said at the signing ceremony.
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 – formulated under the auspices of the bank’s technical assistance, was aimed to help speed the movement of cargo and passengers in the sub-region by streamlining regulations and eliminationg non-physical barriers, Greenwood said, noting that trade and tourism in China’s southern region and Viet Nam’s northern region had been growing considerably in recent years.
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.
The agreement applies to selected and mutually agreed-upon routes and points of entry and exit among the signatory countries.
The GMS summit opening today was expected to accelerate implementation of the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) agreement on cross-border transportation in the sub-region.
— VNS
Ha Noi — Leaders from nations of the Greater Mekong Sub-region gathered in the Lao capital of Vientiane yesterday to discuss ways to improve co-operation and develop trade and investment in the region.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung led the Vietnamese delegation to the two-day GMS Summit, entitled Enhancing Competitiveness through Greater Connectivity, which opens today.
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.
Upon arriving in Vientiane, 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.
Dung also expressed confidence in the great success of the GMS summit.
"The success will prove the increasing prestige of Laos in the regional and international arena," emphasised Dung.
In reply, Lao leaders reiterated the nation’s policy of great respect in its relations with Viet Nam, considering it a strategic relationship in their path towards socialism.
After their talks, Dung and Bouphavanh witnessed the signing of accords on the construction of hydroelectric projects and insurance.
Hastening Cambodian projects
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.
They also noted the work of border demarcation and marker planting, pledging to make efforts to complete the work by 2012, as scheduled.
Dung and Hun Sen agreed to tighten co-ordination with other regional countries in dealing with related issues, including the use of Mekong River water resources, with the aim of ensuring the harmony of interests of related countries and preventing negative effects on the environment and downstream countries.
Hun Sen accepted Dung’s invitation to pay an official visit to Viet Nam in the near future.
ADB support
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 president Haruhiko Kuroda made the affirmation at a meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Vientiane yesterday prior to the GMS Summit.
He added that a series of ADB-financed transportation and infrastructure projects in Viet Nam would be launched in the near future, raising the bank’s total funding for Vietnamese projects to billions of US dollars.
Dung said he highly valued ADB assistance to Viet Nam through bilateral development co-operation programmes as well as within the framework of GMS cooperation.
He affirmed that Viet Nam would continue to strengthen its co-operation with the ADB in speeding up the disbursement of funds on projects in Viet Nam and improving their effectiveness.
Dung also asked the ADB to provide Viet Nam with more loans to carry out infrastructure projects, including an expressway from HCM City to the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.
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 appreciated the business circle’s recommendations regarding the harmonisation of policies and simplification of trade and investment procedures in order to reduce time and cost for business and trade in the region, thus facilitating regional investment co-operation and improving the region’s competitiveness.
He suggested that regional countries take advantage of the regional road system and work to boost investment, trade, tourism and cultural exchange.
He also 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 yesterday, where he applauded youth suggestions on regional integration process. He especially appreciated their proposals that the leaders of the regional countries help young people contribute more to the development of the region through job creation and the preservation of the region’s cultural diversity.
Transport MoU with China
China and Viet Nam signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) yesterday to include the Nanning-Ha Noi corridor and Youyiguan-Huu Nghi Border Crossing Point in the scope of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) Cross – Border Transport Agreement.
The MoU, signed by Chinese Deputy Minister of Communications Weng Mengyong and Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Transport Le Manh Hung, was a bilateral manifestation of the GMS Cross-Border Transport Agreement, ADB vice president Lawrence Greenwood said at the signing ceremony.
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 – formulated under the auspices of the bank’s technical assistance, was aimed to help speed the movement of cargo and passengers in the sub-region by streamlining regulations and eliminationg non-physical barriers, Greenwood said, noting that trade and tourism in China’s southern region and Viet Nam’s northern region had been growing considerably in recent years.
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.
The agreement applies to selected and mutually agreed-upon routes and points of entry and exit among the signatory countries.
The GMS summit opening today was expected to accelerate implementation of the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) agreement on cross-border transportation in the sub-region.
— VNS
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