ID :
277822
Wed, 03/13/2013 - 12:43
Auther :

Thai-Lao joint Cabinet meeting to be held in May

VIENTIANE, March 13 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her Lao counterpart Thongsing Thammavong have agreed to hold a joint Thai-Lao Cabinet meeting, the second of its kind, in May 2013. The agreement was reached during bilateral talks of the two leaders in Vientiane, Laos' capital, on Wednesday, as part of Premier Yingluck's ongoing trip to the neighbouring country to attend the 5th Meeting of the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) from March 12-13. Both leaders insisted on the importance of the ACMECS and agreed to exchange visits and meet regularly; while the Thai premier invited her Lao counterpart to visit Thailand to attend the 2nd Asia-Pacific Water Summit in Chiang Mai province in the Thai North in May and proposed that the Thai and Lao Cabinets also have their 2nd joint meeting on the occasion, after their first joint Cabinet meeting took place eight years ago. Premier Yingluck also invited Laos to the 18th meeting of the Thai-Lao Joint Commission for bilateral cooperation in Hua Hin seaside district of Prachuap Khiri Khan province in the Upper Thai South late this month, at which both sides will discuss developing and increasing border crossings, cooperating in border areas, promoting economic development and integrating infrastructures and power networks. The Lao prime minister accepted the three invitations. Besides, the Thai and Lao prime ministers witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) under which Laos offers privileges on excise tax and fees to Thai business operators and Thailand offers academic assistance to Laos. Privileges on tariffs of farm products will, however, be subject to the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA), concluded among member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including Laos and Thailand. (TNA)

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