ID :
310525
Wed, 12/11/2013 - 14:04
Auther :

GMS countries enhance cooperation in railway connectivity

VIENTIANE, LAO PDR, December 11 (TNA) - The governments of four member countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the establishment of the Greater Mekong Railway Association (GRMA), aimed to enhance railway connectivity in and beyond the GMS. The MOU was signed in Vientiane, Laos' capital, on Wednesday, when the 19th GMS Ministerial Conference of the GMS Economic Cooperation Program was also held in the Lao capital and the Fourth Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge, linking Chiang Khong District of Thailand's northern Chiang Rai Province with Huay Xai, the capital of Laos' Bokeo Province, was also officially opened. However, Thailand and Vietnam have not yet been ready to sign the MOU, but they are expected to follow suit in the near future. James Lynch, Director of the ADB’s Regional Cooperation and Operations Coordination Division, said that the GRMA, which will be housed at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) office for the first two years, will support the movement of goods and people by a cost-effectiveness and green mode of transport. Arkhom Termpittayasith, Secretary-General of the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), who represented Thailand at the conference’s opening session, noted that the Fourth Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge highlights the success of efforts to complete the North-South Economic Corridor connectivity in the region. Arkhom acknowledged that the Regional Investment Framework (RIF), endorsed at the conference on Wednesday, will also guide the GMS forward in all sectors, including the further development of infrastructure, human resource capacities and institutions to meet GMS goals. GMS member countries include Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and China’s southern Yunnan Province.(TNA)

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