Single visa for five CLMVT nations touted at forum
THE IDEA of a single visa for the CLMVT subregion (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand) has found support at a three-day forum in Bangkok that ends today.
The “CLMVT Forum 2016” hosted by Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce brought together some 1,000 participants from the countries involved, as well as experts from Japan and the United States.
Several participants said CLMVT governments needed to simplify cross-border procedures while upgrading local infrastructure and agro-logistic services in order to provide better storage and delivery of perishable goods throughout the region to destination markets.
A free border mechanism would also boost tourism, one of the most lucrative areas in the group.
While sustainable tourism development could yield significant profits for the industry and the regional economy in general, complicated visa procedures were keeping away many potential visitors. Participants discussed having one visa for visitors to CLMVT countries, instead of five.
Vuong Duy Bien, Vietnam’s deputy minister of culture, sport and tourism, hailed the idea, saying that complicated visa procedures for his country were one of the reasons that visitors to the area did not include Vietnam amongh their destinations.
Tran Doan The Duy, deputy director of Viet Travel, said the one-visa idea would be perfect for many Westerners who have time for a long holiday but avoid Vietnam because of visa fees and procedures.
At the forum, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the power of shared opportunities and the expansion of intra-regional business networks for the development of trade, investment and tourism would make the Mekong countries visible to the world. Vietnam’s deputy minister of industry and trade, Nguyen Cam Tu, said that to make such a seamless region, the countries involved should choose specific fields on which to focus their cooperation, such as food processing or automobile industries.
The forum heard that after decades of developing both a large manufacturing base and large sales in Thailand, Japanese companies were now increasing their investment in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam to take advantage of low labour costs, plentiful natural resources, and new and fast-growing markets.
Thus enhanced Japanese investment in all CLMVT states would benefit both sides.
