Thailand, Laos ink deal on promoting peace, trade along border

BANGKOK, March 8 (TNA) - Thailand and neighbouring Laos have concluded a bilateral agreement on promoting peace and trade along their common border. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed at the 9th meeting of the governors of nine Thai and Lao border provinces, held in Bangkok on Friday and co-chaired by Thai Interior Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan and Lao Minister of Public Security Thongbanh Sengaphone. At the meeting, both sides discussed cooperation on the detention of each other’s people, narcotic suppression along their common border, borderline maintenance and the development of border crossing and border peace-keeping mechanisms at district and provincial levels, as well as border contact points at district and provincial levels, leading to the conclusion of the agreement. According to the Thai interior minister, the MOU covers Thai-Lao cooperation in 15 areas, including border peace-keeping, border trade and economic development, social and cultural partnerships for the sake of the harmonious co-existence and better quality of life of Thai and Lao people living along the border. The visiting Lao minister said the meeting will lead to mechanisms to effectively solve Thai-Lao border problems, expressing his hope that such meetings should be continued to further strengthen bilateral relations. (TNA)