Vietnam proposes expansion of Mekong economic corridors

(Bqp.vn) - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh has proposed that current economic corridors in the Mekong sub-region should expand their links with other Asian regions via a multi-mode transportation model. The Deputy PM made this proposal as the sub-region has an important role in economic connectivity and integration.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh.

Deputy PM Minh delivered this proposal while speaking at the 7th Mekong-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held on August 10 in Myanmar’s capital Nay Pyi Taw alongside the 47th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meetings.

He also suggested speeding up agriculture and tourism connectivity and collaboration between localities and enterprises of Mekong states and Japan, including a strategic partnership between Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region and Japanese localities. These suggestions were hailed and put into the Statement of the Chair at the event.

Deputy PM Minh expressed his hope for more multi-national cooperation projects carrying the clear hallmark of a Mekong-Japan partnership to be developed in the time to come.

Vietnam will continue to work closely with other Mekong states and Japan to successfully implement the Tokyo Strategy 2012 on the Mekong-Japan co-operation, he pledged.

Chaired by Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, the meeting reviewed the implementation of a plan of actions to realise the Tokyo Strategy 2012 and measures to boost co-operation in all three pillars, including connectivity and narrowing the development gap, sustainable inter-connected development, and environmental protection and social welfare.

The ministers spoke highly of Japan’s effective support for the Mekong region in infrastructure development, creating favourable conditions for trade and investment as well as environmental preservation and human resource training.

They also agreed on specific measure to step up the execution of the Tokyo Strategy 2012 and the plan of actions for the “A Decade towards Green Mekong” initiative.

The meeting issued a joint statement recognising the efforts of the Vietnamese and Lao Governments in conducting the one-stop-shop model at the Lao Bao-Densavan border gate on the East-West Economic Corridor.

The Japanese foreign minister and his counterparts from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam also agreed to organise their eighth meeting in Malaysia in 2015 in conjunction with the 48th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.

(Source: Nhan Dan)