|
EWEC faces difficult road ahead
Turning the East-West Corridor into an major economic corridor would be no easy task, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) chief representative in Viet Nam Tsuno Motonori told regional officials and representatives of the donor community at the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) Co-operation Forum last Saturday.
"Although there have been good achievements in improving the connectivity in this part of the Greater Mekong Sub-Region, we are yet to transform the East-West Corridor from a transportation corridor into an economic corridor," Asian Development Bank country director Ayumi Konishi told the forum, held in the city of Dong Ha in the central province of Quang Tri.
However, the immediate impact of the corridor had been dramatic since its completion in 2006, Konishi said. Average vehicle speeds have increased and the average travel time from Savanakhet to Dansavan (In Laos) along Road No 9 has dropped from 10-12 hours to less than three hours, while the travel time from Dong Ha to Lao Bao from four hours to two.
Border clearance on both sides has become more swift and efficient, with customs declaration and inspection time at Lao Bao reduced from an average of 125 minutes to less than 30 minutes for outbound goods and from 20 minutes to 12 minutes for inbound goods.
Although faster transna-tional commutes and cross-border clearance had sparked an increase in cross-border trade, the truly substantial and dramatic increases expected to arise from the development of the corridor had yet to materialise, Konishi said.
"Cross-border freight traffic, in particular, has shown slow growth," he said, noting that average trade value through Lao Bao peaked at US$148.5 million in 2007.
"There are many reasons underlying this, but a fundamental one, I believe, is the need for effective trade promotion in addition to trade facilitation," said Konishi.
"It is trade promotion that will increase the demand for trade facilitation, and lead to the utilisation of the East-West Economic Corridor."
The corridor was not connected to key economic areas in the sub-region, and that was another key factor behind the low demand, he added. There was little interest for transit traffic to begin in Lao Bao or in Mawlamymine in Myanmar, or along the corridor itself, as there was little economic activity that would benefit transit traffic either way.
"A road does not only connect the origins and destinations, but any two points along it. Further efforts to develop economic linkages among the areas along the corridor are essential for it to be used more effectively," said Konishi.
The current agreement on the exchange of traffic right along the corridor had so far not led to greater access to major commercial centres in the sub-region, Konishi said. The agreements between Viet Nam and Laos and between Laos and Thailand did not cover the full length of the economic corridor.
In Viet Nam, the traffic right agreement along corridor extends to Da Nang but not to the commercial centres of Ha Noi and HCM City, requiring transport vehicles to unload and reload their commercial cargo before reaching their destinations.
But Government Office Chairman Nguyen Xuan Phuc said the corridor had succeeding in promoting trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchanges since it was launched and had played a significant role in economic development and poverty reduction in Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Viet Nam.
With financial support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japanese government, such infrastructure facilities as the Da Nang Port, Hai Van Pass Tunnel, Highway No.9, and Friendship Bridge No.2 across the Mekong River have been upgraded.
"Together with investment in traffic infrastructure, countries along the corridor have also been very active in promoting ‘soft infrastructure' – simplifying procedures, facilitating cross-border tourism and human resources development," said Phuc.
But Suphan Keomixay, Deputy Governor of the Lao province of Savanakhet, said that while the corridor benefits Savanakhet considerably, infrastructure and human resources in the province had not developed as dramtically as it had in the neighbouring countries.
Motonori said JICA would continue to extend neccesary co-operation in development of the infrastructure, establishment of smoother cross-border transport schemes, and industrial development.
"We hope and believe that in the near future, there will be a busy trade exchange from Mawlamyine to Da Nang, from northern Thailand to Ha Noi and HCM City, and a large number of tourists will come here from the Kingdom of Buddhism, the Land of the Golden Pagoda and the country of a Million Elephants. There will be more economic co-operation projects to be signed among enterprises from Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam", said Phuc.
vietnamnews
|
