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VN reaches transport agreement with Thailand, Laos
Vietnam and Thailand on June 11 conducted a formal exchange of traffic rights and the introduction of a regional customs transit system between the two countries and Laos .
Accordingly, commercial trucks from Vietnam and Thailand will be able to enter each other’s territory to deliver or collect goods which will sharply reduce overland transport time and boost trade and economic development.
Overland shipments between Vietnam and Thailand along the East West Economic Corridor – which runs from Danang in Vietnam through to Savannakhet in Laos and then into Thailand – can now proceed directly to their final destination. Those shipments previously needed to be unloaded and re-loaded in Laotian territory.
According to a press release from the Asian Development Bank, issued in Manila in the Philippines on June 11, 1,200 commercial vehicles – 400 from each country – have initially been provided with permits to enter each other’s countries.
“You can now set out from Thailand, do business in Laos and arrive in time for dinner in Da Nang – all in the space of a single day,” says Arjun Thapan, Director General of ADB’s Southeast Asian Department.
Ceremonies to commemorate this exchange of traffic rights and waiver of transit customs were held at the two major border crossing points along the East West Economic Corridor: Lao Bao in Vietnam , Dansavanh and Savannakhet in Laos and Mukdahan in Thailand .
The ADB first supported the development of the East West Economic Corridor by providing a 57 million USD concessional loan in 1999, primarily to fund the construction and upgrade of roads in Vietnam and Laos.
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