Initiatives by Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at the seventh Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam (CLMV) Summit and the sixth Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Co-operation Strategy (ACMECS) Summit were welcomed by member states, according to Viet Nam news on 24 June.
During the CLMV Summit, the Vietnamese PM and leaders of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar reiterated their commitment to foster the traditional relationship, neighbourliness and co-operation for mutual interest.
Reviewing the progress of their two-year co-ordination, they adopted an action plan in economics and trade to facilitate trade and investment.
Participating countries will spread the one-stop-shop inspection model at international border gates, utilise the potential of trans-national economic corridors such as the East-West Economic Corridor and the southern economic corridor, while developing policies to encourage investment in agriculture, industry and energy.
The PM once again reiterated the Vietnamese Government's commitments to CLMV co-operation and hoped the four countries would continue working together to successfully realise co-operation programmes for the sake of the region.
At the end of the summit, leaders adopted a joint statement and agreed to organise the eighth CLMV Summit in Vietnam in 2016.
The Vietnamese leader also revealed a plan to hold a high-level business dialogue on the Mekong sub-region on the margins of the eighth CLMV Summit, a joint effort by Vietnam and the World Economic Forum.
While attending the ACMECS Summit, PM Dung and leaders hailed the progresses on goals set in the 2013-2015 action plan, especially in transport connectivity, trade and investment facilitation, development of trans-national economic corridors such as the East-West Economic Corridor and the southern economic corridor, green tourism and agriculture co-operation.
A 2016-2018 plan of action was adopted to improve the competitiveness of ACMECS economies towards transforming the group into a leading investment and tourism destination, especially in border areas, and maximising growth opportunities generated by the ASEAN Economic Community and free trade agreements.
Eight priority cooperation areas were defined. They were trade-investment, agriculture, industry-energy, transport, human resources development, tourism, healthcare and environmental protection.
Later, at a dialogue between ACMECS leaders and the business community, the Vietnamese PM said he hoped enterprises would participate more actively in the building of co-operation programmes.
Promoting trade
Prime Minister Dung yesterday also attended a ceremony to mark completion of the first phase of construction of the Hoang Anh Gia Lai Myanmar Centre.
He praised Vietnamese investors for promoting trade and investment in Myanmar, saying they had made practical contributions to bilateral relations.
Invested in by the Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group, the US$440 million Hoang Anh Gia Lai Myanmar Centre is the largest foreign-invested real estate project in Myanmar so far. When complete, it is expected to become an architectural highlight in Yangon.
The first phase of the project involved construction of a shopping centre, two 27-storey office buildings and a hotel with more than 400 rooms.
Work on the second phase began this month on a 63,800sq.m land plot that will host four 28-storey buildings for apartments and offices. It is scheduled to be completed in the second quarter of 2017.
Also yesterday, the PM participated in a similar event held to inaugurate operations of the financial and insurance arms of the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) in Myanmar.
Highlighting the potential for two countries to boost bilateral co-operation, he urged the Association of Vietnamese Investors to Myanmar (AVIM) to increase its role in supporting Vietnamese firms expand business and investment in Myanmar, focusing in particular on finance, banking and real estate.
The association should team up with relevant ministries and sectors in both countries to identify ways to resolve difficulties in implementing bilateral co-operation agreements, he said.
Dung thanked the Myanmar Government and Yangon authorities for facilitating Vietnamese investment projects in the country.
Vietnam hoped to strengthen all-round links with Myanmar, especially in 12 priority sectors stated in the joint statement on co-operation the two countries signed in April 2010, he said.
He witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on co-operation between BIDV and Myanmar's Global Treasury Bank as well as a US$30 million credit contract between BIDV and SMIDB bank that aims to serve the development of small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in Myanmar.