Thursday, 18 November 2010

Vietnam - CLV summit pledges border development

via CAAI

A Cambodia-Laos-Viet Nam (CLV) summit concluded in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on November 16 with a joint statement to make the CLV Development Triangle politically stable and economically dynamic.

Vietnamese Prime Minister joined his counterparts from Laos and Cambodia in signing the scheme after approving a revised planning framework on the CLV Development Triangle, which now consists of 13 border provinces, for 2020 under the chair of Viet Nam.

Government leaders from the three countries also attended the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on preferential policies for the CLV Development Triangle.

The accords were the outcome of one day’s sitting, with Vietnamese Prime Minister Dung emphasising the huge development gap between the CLV Development Triangle area and other regions.

“The Development Triangle has failed to make a turning point in socio-economic development, while infrastructure development remains behind the plan and human resources to execute projects are falling short,” Dung said.

He called on relevant governments to pay special attention and give a higher priority to the regional development.

The initiative on an Indochinese development triangle area cooperation was raised at a similar summit held in Vientiane, Laos in October 1999, aimed at strengthening solidarity and cooperation in socio-economic development and contributing to maintaining stability and security along the borders between the three countries.

The Cambodia-Laos-Viet Nam Development Triangle area initially consisted of 10 border provinces, and three more provinces were admitted at the fourth meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee in 2009, bringing the total to 13 provinces.

Later on November 16, Dung and his entourage, including leaders of ministries and industries, met the Association of Vietnamese Investors in Cambodia to solve problems for Vietnamese enterprises wanting to boost investment in the Angkor Watt market.

The association reported that investment into Cambodia over the past year has reached 60 projects capitalised at over 900 million USD. The figures represented a four-fold increase in the number of projects and six-fold increase in investment compared with the period before 2009, when the Government issued a policy to encourage investment into Cambodia.

As a result, Viet Nam ranks third in the list of major foreign investors in Cambodia with investment focusing on finance-banking, aviation, agriculture, energy and mining.

Most worthy of note is a 2.2 billion USD project jointly invested by the Electricity of Viet Nam group, EVN International and the Viet Nam Urban and Industrial Zone Development Investment Corporation (IDICO). The Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) has signed credit contracts worth over 150 million USD with Vietnamese enterprises in support of their projects in Cambodia. The credit amount is expected to increase soon after these projects complete their procedures.

Trade relations between Viet Nam and Cambodia are faring well with two-way revenues up to 1.15 billion USD so far. The recent inauguration of Cambodia Angkor Air – a joint venture

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