Search Asia Times

Advanced Search
 
Southeast Asia

New impetus for Vietnam-China economic corridor

HANOI - Improving transport systems and reforming exit-entry and payment procedures are breakthrough measures aimed at creating new impetus for the development of the Vietnam-China economic corridor that will run through Hanoi, Hai Phong port city, Vietnam's Lao Cai and Quang Ninh provinces, and Yunnan province in China.

So far, Yunnan province has completed a number of motorways leading to the border with Lao Cai province. Vietnam, however, has been slow in upgrading the ports in Hai Phong and Quang Ninh as well as the railway routes and roads from Hai Phong and Hanoi to Lao Cai, hindering Vietnam's exports to Yunnan, particularly the shipment of fruits and aquatic products from southern Vietnam.

Regarding the problem, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said the government has mapped out a plan to upgrade transportation in the area, as the economic corridor will facilitate development in other provinces.

Meanwhile, reform of the payment procedures is well under way with Lao Cai and Yunnan having allowed payment in local currencies through the banking system since 2003. These provinces currently are completing final procedures to remove migration obstacles for tourists and commodity transportation. Cargo trucks from Lao Cai province will be able to go as far as 600 kilometers into Yunnan.

The two sides' customs offices also agreed on a single system for checking the export and import of goods. Visitors from the two provinces will be granted long-term visas.

According to Yunnan Governor Xu Rongkai, two-way trade between Yunnan and Vietnam (mostly going through Lao Cai and Quang Ninh) this year stood at nearly US$200 million and is expected to reach $300 million by the year's end. Every year, some 1.8 million visitors travel between Yunnan and Vietnam.

The trade value is still low, however, compared to Yunnan's demand for fruits, aquatic products and consumer goods or Vietnam's demand for machines and equipment. Vietnam is now Yunnan's third-largest trade partner.

(Asia Pulse/VNA)


Sep 11, 2004


 
         
         
No material from Asia Times Online may be republished in any form without written permission.
Copyright 2003, Asia Times Online, 4305 Far East Finance Centre, 16 Harcourt Rd, Central, Hong Kong