VN agrees transport ties with Thailand
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Thailand and Vietnam have agreed to increase mutual cooperation on transport with Laos also to be invited to help create a road network between the three countries.
The agreement was reached during a meeting between visiting Thai Transport Minister Prajin Juntong and his Vietnamese counterpart; Dinh La Thang in Hanoi on Thursday.
Thang also called for further preliminary studies of plans to open five crossborder bus routes between Vietnam and Thailand.
He said that the two countries developed a plan for the bus routes two month ago and invited Laos to join efforts to allow the routes to connect the three countries.
Possible routes include one from Vietnam’s central Ha Tinh Province to Laos’ Khammuon province, and onwards to Thailand’s Nakhon Phanom province. Another route would go from HCM City to Phnom Penh, and on to Bangkok.
The two ministers also agreed to promote coastal marine transport from the east of Thailand to the southern coast of Vietnam.
Prajin said a meeting would be organised in August between delegations from Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia to discuss the coastal marine transport cooperation. He said he hoped Vietnam would create favourable conditions for vehicles from Thailand to enter Vietnam.
He also said that Thailand’s Transport Ministry would consider offering support to aviation firms from both countries, particularly ThaiVietjet Air, an airline that is 51 per cent owned by Thai Kannithi Aviation and 49 per cent by Vietjet Air.
Thang said that he appreciated the transport cooperation between Vietnam and Thailand as the two prepare for the Asean Economic Community at the end of the year. Vietnam considers transport infrastructure a major pillar for development as well as for better connectivity with regional neighbours, he added.
