Special report: Premier Wen visits Laos, attends GMS Summit     

    VIENTIANE, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Six nations sharing the Mekong River agreed here Sunday to improve business and investment environments to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) and facilitate cross-border movement of goods and people, a Vietnamese delegate told Xinhua.

    At the first session of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) Business and Investment Dialogue in the capital city on Sunday, business representatives from the six countries -- Laos, China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Thailand -- and officials from some international organizations agreed that the GMS members should simplify administrative procedures relating to business operations in the sub-region, such as business registration and tax payment, said Nguyen Tuan Hai from the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

    They also agreed that enterprises in the sub-region, through the GMS Business Forum, can directly participate in implementing the GMS Cross-Border Transport Agreement by disseminating regulations stated in the accord, and sharing information and contributing ideas during the implementation process.

    The six countries should review their investment encouragement mechanisms to see whether or not the mechanism create unclearness in structures of production costs of foreign-invested enterprises, and detect any possible negative effects originating from FDI encouragement policies within the sub-region, he said.

    At the two and third sessions on the same day, the representatives also agreed on issues relating to the implementation of the transport agreement, and the enhancement of the involvement of GMS small and medium enterprises in the export market.

    After the dialogue, the representatives briefed the prime ministers of the six countries about their discussions, especially their recommendations for improved business and investment climate in the sub-region, he said, noting that the countries' leaders mostly agreed with them.

    During the two-day 3rd GMS Summit in Vientiane from March 30-31,GMS leaders and representatives from international organizations like the Asian Development Bank are to touch upon connectivity and competitiveness issues such as the establishment of transport corridors, power interconnection systems and telecommunications networks, improvement of infrastructure links, and measures to facilitate the cross-border movement of goods and services.

    The six countries in 1992 kicked off their GMS Program which involves planning and implementing sub-regional projects in nine areas: transport, energy, telecommunications, tourism, environment, human resource development, agriculture, trade facilitation, and private investment.