Thailand, Laos and Vietnam hold meeting on trade and tourism cooperation

SAKON NAKHON, Jan 9 (TNA) – Senior executives of nine provinces from Thailand, Laos and Vietnam met in Thailand’s northeastern province of Sa Kon Nakhon on Sunday (Jan 9) to discuss the use of Roads No. 8 and 12 to facilitate trade, investment and tourism in the three countries.
The meeting, chaired by Sakon Nakhon governor Amnat Phakarat, took place at Sakon Nakhon Rajabhat University. Senior executives of the three countries who attended the meeting included the governors of Khammouan and Bolikhamxai provinces, the representative of Savannakhet province of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and the People’s Committee Chairs of Ha Tinh, Nghe An and Quang Binh provinces of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Thai participants were Withawat Sriwihok, the Thai ambassador to Vientiane, representatives of the Interior Ministry, the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board, the Budget Bureau and the Office of the Civil Service Commission, the governors of Nakhon Phanom and Mukdahan provinces, and the deputy governor of Nong Khai province. Over 100 observers of the three countries also attended the meeting.
As their previous and 13th meeting in Ha Tinh province of Vietnam did not come up with a concrete development in terms of the joint use of Roads No. 8 and 12 to promote trade, investment and tourism cooperation, the 14th meeting took place in Sakon Nakhon province of Thailand to let concerned authorities review past developments and obstacles and find ways to promote the use of both roads for the interest of the concerned provinces of the three countries despite different policies from their governments.
The one-day meeting saw the signing of a memorandum to ensure good relations of the three countries and the opening of a trade show for Thai, Lao and Vietnam products including textiles.
The trade show is set at the Ming Muang stadium in Muang district of Sakon Nakhon on January 9-16, 2011. It consists of 400 booths of local products as well as imported products from Laos and Vietnam. Over 10 million baht is expected to change hands in the trade fair.(TNA)