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PM meets Thai counterpart, ADB President on sidelines of GMS-6

VGP – PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc on March 30 hosted receptions for Thai counterpart Prayut Chan-ocha and Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Takehiko Nakao who are attending the sixth Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) Summit in Ha Noi.

March 31, 2018 11:00 AM GMT+7

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc hosts receptions for Thai counterpart Prayut Chan-ocha, March 30, 2018 - Photo: VGP/Quang Hieu

At the meeting with Thai PM Prayut Chan-ocha, the host suggested Viet Nam and Thailand should seek measures to raise two-way trade to US$15 billion before 2020.

He agreed on the transport connectivity between Thailand, Laos and Viet Nam, asserting to create all favorable conditions to speed up the work.

The Vietnamese Government guarantees legal rights for investors, including those from Thailand for launching long-term and sustainable operation in Viet Nam, he added. 

He allowed the Ministry of Industry and Trade and related ministries and sectors to remove difficulties regarding automobile imports from Thailand.

For his part, PM Prayut Chan-ocha agreed to step up the implementation of bilateral cooperation mechanisms in 2018, including the fourth Joint Cabinet Meeting, the third meeting of the Joint Committee on Bilateral Cooperation, and the third meeting of the Joint Trade Committee.

The same occasion, the two PMs witnessed a ceremony to grant a certificate to Thai AMATA Group to build Smart City in the northern province of Quang Ninh. 

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc receives Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Takehiko Nakao, March 30, 2018 - Photo: VGP/Quang Hieu  

The same day, at the reception for ADB President Takehiko Nakao, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc confirmed that the Vietnamese Government supports ADB’s Strategy 2030 to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals and to continue assisting its member states in dealing with issues such as poverty, uneven development, climate change and development of the private sector. 

Referring to ADB financing more than US$16 billion to 165 programs and projects in Viet Nam, he asserted that the Government is striving to reform economic sectors, including finance-banking, and wants to receive assistance from ADB, especially the Asian Development Fund (ADF)’s preferential loans with extended payment deadline. 

Mr. Nakao said the ADB will provide roughly US$613 million in ADF preferential loans for Viet Nam this year and suggested the country use the funding in several fields, including finance and hoped that it will be used effectively. 

The ADB and several partners are planning to offer roughly US$1 billion in soft loans to foster Viet Nam’s development, especially in its efforts to respond to climate change, he added. 

By Thuy Dung