ACMECS Senior Officials’ Meeting opens in Hanoi

The Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) of the Ayayewady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) took place in Hanoi on November 5.

At the meeting, which focused on preparations for the 3rd ACMECS Ministers’ Meeting and Summit, officials from ACMECS heaped praise on the positive results recorded since the 2nd Summit in Bangkok, Thailand, particularly in the areas of cooperation in trade and investment facilitation, transport, agriculture, industry, energy, healthcare, tourism and human resources development.

In the context of fluctuating regional and international economies, the participants agreed to increase ACMECS cooperation effectively and practically in order to take advantage of new opportunities and to cope with new challenges as well as speeding up economic integration among ACMECS members in particular and countries in the Mekong sub-region in general.

In addition to accelerating the development of the sub-regional transport network, the ACMECS officials emphasised the necessity of the facilitation of a range of procedures and mechanisms, particularly customs procedures.

They also encouraged a host of activities to promote tourism, including the implementation of the “Five Nations, One Destination” initiative and linking the member countries’ cultural and natural heritages.

At the event, the member nations spoke highly of Vietnam and Thailand’s readiness to sign memorandums of understanding on developing vocational training for other ACMECS members.

The officials discussed and approved the agenda of the 3rd ACMECS Ministers’ Meeting and Summit. They also discussed the basic contents of a joint statement to be released at the upcoming summit and ACMECS leaders’ statement regarding trade, investment and tourism promotion and agreed to propose them for approval at the 3rd Summit.

ACMECS includes five member countries, namely Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam.

(Source: VNA)