Theseventh summit among Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) and thesixth summit of the Ayeyawadi-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic CooperationStrategy (ACMECS) – which groups Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand andVietnam – were held as regional nations promote their internationalintegration and active engagement in the building of the ASEAN EconomicCommunity (AEC), Son told the press.
Cooperationwithin these frameworks has been intensified in a result-orientedmanner, he said, noting that at the summits, leaders from Cambodia,Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam valued recent achievements invarious cooperation areas.
In terms of trafficconnectivity, Vietnam and Laos officially launched the one-stop-shopcustoms model at the former’s Lao Bao and the latter’s Densavan bordergates in February 2015, reducing procedure handling time and expenses.
Laos and Myanmar put a friendship bridge into usespanning the Mekong River that links the two sides. Meanwhile, regionalnations have also upgraded and built roads along the East-West Corridorand the Southern Corridor.
The diplomat continued tosay that Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar appreciated Vietnam and Thailand’sscholarship opportunities and asked the two providers to expand theprogramme.
The leaders also highlighted theircountries’ organisation of regular tourism promotion events and jointtourism programmes with a view to realise the goal “Five countries, Onedestination”, he added.
At the summits, DeputyForeign Minister Son said the leaders agreed to bolster cooperation inprioritised fields to improve the economies’ competitiveness, furtherengage in regional and global production chains and utilise newdevelopment opportunities brought about by the AEC and free tradeagreements, ultimately narrowing the development gap within ASEAN.
Accordingly, the countries will continue facilitating trade,investment and cross-border transport of labourers and goods; encourageinvestments in agriculture, industry, and energy; tap intotrans-national economic corridor potential like the East-West andSouthern corridors; and build the sub-region into a leading globaltourist destination, he noted.
Also at the summits,PM Nguyen Tan Dung proposed important suggestions to increasecooperation efficiency, expand space for economic development, andimprove member nations’ competitiveness, all of which were lauded by theparticipating countries.
The Deputy Minister saidthe seventh CLMV Summit and the sixth ACMECS Summit were also a chancefor leaders to renew their political determination to fostercomprehensive cooperation, solidarity and amity.
These events concurrently underlined the importance of collaboration andconnectivity in economics, transport and tourism in both bilateral andmultilateral frameworks among the nations.
Specifically, the countries valued and consented to expand theone-stop-shop model, which has been effectively implemented betweenVietnam and Laos, Son said, noting that the success of this model willhelp boost trade in goods and services between Vietnam and the othernations.
The CLMV and ACMECS members also expressedtheir interest in partnering with Vietnam in its strongest field –agriculture – while appreciating its assistance in human resourcesdevelopment, which is a prerequisite for intensive affiliation ineducation and training between Vietnam and the others, he said.
On the fringe of the summits, the Vietnamese PM met with MyanmarPresident Thein Sein to discuss measures to boost friendship andmulti-faceted cooperation as the two countries celebrate the 40 thfounding anniversary of their diplomatic ties this year, the officialadded.-VNA