East West forum to speed up trade ties

The East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) Forum to be held in the central province of Quang Tri on June 26 will seek ways to accelerate development, improve policy co-ordination and foster trade in the region.

Organisers said that the forum would create opportunities for provinces in Viet Nam, Laos and Thailand to improve their business environments and boost commerce in the region as a whole.

They said the focus would be on the potential, strength and demand for co-operation along the EWEC, upgrading infrastructural facilities, proposing a policing mechanism, and identifying linkages to build an EWEC business community.

The event would also include a tourism conference covering three provinces – Viet Nam’s Quang Tri, Laos’s Savanakhet and Thailand’s Mucdahan; a meeting of investors in Quang Tri; a fair on the Greater Mekong Sub-region and sports exchanges.

The forum is organised by the Quang Tri Province People’s Committee and Bao The Gioi va Viet Nam (World and Viet Nam Report) newspaper published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It will be attended by officials, investors, business people and researchers.

The EWEC, a 1,450km long highway linking central Viet Nam with Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, is an economic development prog-ramme initiated in 1998 by the Ministerial Conference of Greater Mekong Sub-region in order to promote the development and integration among the four countries. — VNS

Tags: EWEC, The East-West Economic Corridor Forum