BEIJING,
March 21 -- China and the other five countries along the Mekong River Tuesday
signed an agreement in Beijing to build a modern and user-friendly
transportation network.
Officials from countries of the Greater Mekong
Subregion (GMS) agreed on a joint proposal for improved road systems and
simplified cross-border procedures.
Transport ministers from China, Myanmar, Laos,
Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam signed the last four of the 20 annexes and
protocols of the GMS Cross-Border Transport Agreement, a multilateral instrument
designed to facilitate cross-border trade and transport.
According to the pact, the six countries will remove
or reduce non-physical barriers across borders, such as setting up single-stop
customs inspections, providing visa assistance for cross-border trade, and
allowing vehicles to pass across borders with fewer checks. The six nations are
also committed to improving the sub-regional transportation infrastructure, with
finances generated internally and from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
"Improving transport infrastructure and lowering
trade barriers is crucial to the economic development of the Mekong subregion
and for reducing poverty," said Arjun Thapan, director general of the ADB's
Southeast Asia Department. "This agreement is a crucial instrument for advancing
trade, investment, tourism and access to vital services."
The transport initiative is part of the GMS Economic
Cooperation Program that started in 1992 and is aimed at building a prosperous,
integrated and harmonious subregion by enhancing connectivity, competitiveness
and a greater sense of community.
The program's priority projects and activities cover
nine sectors: transport, energy, telecommunications, the environment,
agriculture, human resources, trade facilitation, investment and tourism.
As part of the program, ADB has provided 1.232
billion U.S. dollars in loans for seven highway, expressway and railway
projects in Southwest China's Yunnan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous
Region since 1994.
Weng Mengyong, vice-minister of communications, said
the Chinese government is fully committed to cooperation within the GMS which
has yielded substantial results.
For example, the Kunming-Bangkok Highway's section in
Laos, funded by China, was completed in June 2006, a year ahead of schedule. The
247-kilometer road, which was previously usable only in the dry season, is now
an all-weather surface.
The Kunming-Hanoi-Haiphong Highway's section in China
(401 km) is expected to be completed before the end of this year.
As the 12th longest river in the world, the 4,880-km
Mekong River is the most important international river in Southeast Asia. It
originates in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China and runs through Yunnan
Province of China, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
(Source: China Daily)
Print
