CLMV economic ministers meet
DA NANG — Economic ministers from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Viet Nam (CLMV) held their first talk last Saturday to discuss measures to narrow the development gaps between the four countries and other ASEAN member nations. The meeting was held within the scope of the 42nd ASEAN Economic Ministers' Meeting, which took place in Da Nang last week.
Ministers proposed closer co-ordination in five major areas:
– Building and implementing projects under the 2nd Initiative for ASEAN Integration Work Plan framework;
– Building priority projects under sub-regional co-operation frameworks;
– Enhancing co-operation with regional and international institutions such as the Asian Development Bank, the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia and ASEAN's dialogue partners;
– Furthering co-operation in Free Trade Agreements and other negotiations for the benefit of each country as well as the whole group; and
– Studying proposals to establish the CLMV Development Fund, as mentioned by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, to attract more assistance from dialogue partners for narrowing developing gaps.
Ministers urged the four countries to have more trade facilitation and promotion programmes, reaffirmed the importance of investment incentives and encouraged the establishment of special economic and export processing zones along CLMV borders.
They emphasised the vital role of vocational training and public administration capacity-building programmes.
They said policy co-ordination among the countries should be one of the main themes of CLMV economic co-operation.
Ministers agreed that the CLMV economic ministers' meetings would be convened twice a year.
ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan said development gaps remained a fundamental issue that ASEAN nations needed to correct, as the bloc headed to the establishment of an economic community by 2015. — VNS