The Vietnamese, Lao and Cambodian premiers agreed to promote trade, investment and tourism among the three countries while attending the eighth Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam (CLV) Development Triangle Summit in Vientiane on Tuesday, Vietnam News Agency reported.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his Lao and Cambodian counterparts Thongsing Thammavong and Samdech Hun Sen revised a master plan on socio-economic development in the CLV triangle through 2020. They also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on incentive policies for the bloc. The leaders praised recent achievements in the implementation of the plan and the MoU, especially in terms of infrastructure development, trade, investment and tourism promotion.

They accepted a proposal from PM Dung that called for the expansion of cooperation in the triangle and the appointment of a joint committee to design a plan to increase economic connectivity between the three countries. PM Dung also proposed that the three countries continue to improve tax policies and simplify investment procedures for businesses, especially those operating in shipping, mining, rubber and coffee, energy, telecoms and tourism.

To facilitate the exchange of goods and travel, he also called for the early completion of an agreement on promoting and facilitating trade activities in the area, the upgrading of border gates, the implementation of a one-stop-shop model at border gates in 2015, and the implementation of the Cross Border Transport Agreement within the framework of the Greater Mekong Sub-region. PM Dung said the three countries should focus on implementing the master plan's targets, striving for an annual average GDP growth rate of 10 percent and an annual per capita income of US$1,500-1,600 by 2015.

He noted that the three countries should boost information exchanges and work together to tackle security issues in border regions. He also emphasized the need for the CLV triangle to attract further support from other partners, including Japan and South Korea and international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Before wrapping up the meeting, the three PMs signed a joint pledge on cooperation in the CLV triangle and agreed to hold the ninth summit in Cambodia in 2016.

By Thanh Nien News - thanhniennews.com

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