The Ayeyawadi-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy Summit
(ACMECS) should focus on increasing the competitiveness of its member
nations by linking markets, forming regional production and supply
chains, and improving the quality of human resources.
This is one of the three main goals that Prime Minister Nguyen Tan
Dung recommended in his speech at the 5th ACMECS chaired by Lao PM
Thongsing Thammavong in Vientiane on March 13.
PM Dung said their joint efforts at ACMECS need to support the
establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015, ensuring regional
sustainable development, and the management and utilisation of natural
resources of the Ayeyawadi, Chao Phraya and Mekong rivers.
ACMECS cooperation programmes should focus on promoting trade,
investment and tourism collaboration by improving the business
environment, promoting regional connectivity through the East-West
Economic Corridor (EWEC), the North-South Economic Corridor and the
Southern Economic Corridor (SEC) and other transnational transport
routes, he added.
According to the PM, it is
necessary to boost high-quality human resource development through
scholarship and knowledge-exchange programmes among domestic and
international vocational training establishments, combining syllabuses
with businesses’ demands as well as encourage the business sector to
take part in ACMECS projects.
At the summit, leaders
adopted the Vientiane Declaration and the ACMECS action programme for
the 2013-2015 period, which aims to link ACMECS cooperation with the
building of the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015, the implementation of
the master plan on ASEAN connectivity, and raise ACMECS member nations’
competitiveness, role and position in global production and supply
chains.
The conference reviewed 10 years of ACMESC
cooperation, the implementation of the Phnom Penh Declaration and the
2010-2012 action programme in priority cooperation fields such as trade
and investment, agriculture, industry and energy, transport, tourism,
human resource development, healthcare, social welfare and the
environment.
The leaders reaffirmed their commitment
to implementing the targets of the Bagan Declaration for the sake of
good neighbourliness, peace, stability, and development in the region.
Over the past years, Vietnam’s combined trade
turnover with Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand rose from
7.1 billion USD in 2009 to 12.8 billion USD in 2012. In addition,
transport among the five countries has considerably improved thanks to
the EWEC and SEC as well as the signing and implementation of bilateral
and multilateral agreements to facilitate transport, said participants
at the conference.
ACMECS 6 will be held in Myanmar next year.
On the day, PM Dung and other leaders talked with the ACMECS business
sector, pledging to further improve the business environment and
facilitate trade and investment exchange to make ACMECS a top choice of
regional and global businesspeople.
Dung highlighted
the role of the business sector in national socio-economic development,
and regional integration and cooperation. He proposed that the ACMECS
Business Council should be involved in implementing the regional action
programme for the 2013-2015 period, and hoped to receive feedback from
businesses to make prompt adjustments.
The leaders
said the efforts of the five countries’ Governments in promoting
regional cooperation cannot achieve practical results without the
business sector’s support and involvement.
Policies
to facilitate trade, investment, tourism, industrial development, energy
and human resources aim to create favourable conditions for businesses
to make profit, contributing to improving people’s lives and ensuring
social security and stability.-VNA