Officials off to Thailand to boost tourism

Twenty-five Thai and Vietnamese officials headed by the Royal Consul General in HCM City visited southern Vietnam on May 20 on their way to Bangkok to promote tourism activities.
Twenty-five Thai and Vietnamese officials headed by the Royal ConsulGeneral in HCM City visited southern Vietnam on May 20 on theirway to Bangkok to promote tourism activities.

Accompanied byVietnamese and Thai media, the officials aim to promote thesustainability of tourism in the ASEAN Economic Community through 2015.

TheThai Royal Consul General in HCM City , Panpimon Suwannapongse,traveled with Pham Thanh Tuoi, Vice-Chairman of the Can Tho cityPeople’s Committee and the Chairman of the Ca Mau Province People’sCommittee.

Leaders of other localities in the Mekong Delta along the tourism economic corridor were also present.

Thecorridor is located along coastal route R10 that connects the Tratprovince of Thailand to the border of Cambodia through Koh Kong.

Itgoes along the Thai coastline to Sre Ambel, Kampot and Kep of Cambodia,and then links to the border through Ha Tinh and ends at southernmostCa Mau province in Vietnam .

Thailand considers the southerncoastal route linking Cambodia and Vietnam to be important foreconomic cooperation and development.

Beginning from HCM City, the officials stopped at Can Tho, Ca Mau and Kien Giang province.They then plan to visit Sihanoukville and Koh Kong in Cambodia ontheir way to other stops.

At each province in both countries, the participants will learn about the area’s economic potential and opportunities.

The Gross Domestic Product of the five provinces combined is one fifth of Thai GDP.

Thailand also wants to open a sea route from the Thailand Gulf to Vietnam ’s Ca Mau province.

Accordingto an official from Thai Trade Centre in HCM City , trade volumebetween the two countries has increased 20 percent each year in recentyears. Thai investment in Vietnam ranks 10th among other countries.

Thailand also wants to promote investment in small- and medium-sizedenterprises in Vietnam , especially in the Mekong Delta’s agriculturesector fishery and food processing.

Thai investment is nowmostly for infrastructure for industrial zones, new urban centres andhotels, and facilities for tourism and industry in southeast Dong Naiand Binh Duong provinces, and HCM City and Hanoi.

With furtherinvestment along the corridor, Ca Mau is expected to become an importanteconomic area in the Mekong Delta and a business gate for the ASEANmember nations.-VNA

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