PM promises support for Laos in developing transport

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam will do its best to help Laos, especially in transport development, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told visiting Lao Minister of Public Works and Transport Bounchanh Sinthavong during their meeting in Hanoi on March 7.

The PM welcomed the minister’s proposals, noting that the Vietnam-Laos Intergovernmental Committee had reached a consensus on those issues at its 39th meeting.

He affirmed that Vietnam will allow Laos to use Vietnam’s sea ports to serve Laos’s economic development, and encourage Laos to cooperate with Vietnam in building and exploiting sea ports.

Regarding the Hanoi-Vientiane Expressway project, the PM agreed that the Vietnamese side will complete a feasible study for the plan in 2017, asking the two countries’ ministries of transport to work closely with foreign consultation units to fulfill the work as soon as possible.

He also urged both sides’ ministries, sectors and relevant agencies to proactively enhance coordination in other transport projects.

PM Phuc requested the Ministries of Transport and Foreign Affair of the two countries  to review the operation of the “one-stop-shop” model at border gates, with a view to facilitating transport between the two countries and ensuring security at shared border areas.

For his part, Bounchanh Sinthavong informed the host on the cooperation between the two ministries of transport in implementing the guidelines by the two Governments at the Vietnam-Laos Intergovernmental Committee’s 39th meeting.

Regarding a project to build a road connecting Laos’s Luang Prabang province with Vietnam’s Dien Bien province, he said his country is selecting contractors to coordinate with Vietnam to accelerating the project.

The two countries’ ministries of transport will also jointly work to implement other projects, in line with the directions of the two Governments, he added.-VNA