Lao, Thai doctors expand cooperation

BANGKOK, September 22 (TNA) - As the Thai government plans to set up a special economic zone (SEZ) near the Thai-Lao border, aimed at boosting trade and investment in the lead up to the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by the end of this year, doctors of the two neighbouring countries have pledged to cooperate more on preventing emerging, communicable diseases. Dr. Ussadang Ruay-arjin, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Disease Control, under the Thai Ministry of Public Health, and his Lao counterpart Dr. Siboonhome Akkavongse, on Tuesday jointly opened a workshop in Nong Khai Province in the Thai Northeast, opposite Laos' capital, Vientiane, in which doctors and medical experts of the two countries participated and agreed to fully prepared against any emerging, communicable diseases along the common border. Dr. Ussadang said public health experts of Nong Khai and Vientiane have cooperated closely during the past decade and SEZs will be, in the future, opened in both cities, where there will also be a cross-border high-speed train service running from Bangkok to Laos and China. Dr. Siboonhome, meanwhile, pointed out that both neighbouring members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and international organisations have supported Laos' public health activities, with Thailand, in particular, having bestowed good cooperation so far, enabling Laos to prevent and control diseases in the country. (TNA)