The Vietnamese Minister of Transport Ho Nghia Dung made the statement at a discussion on the potential of the East Asian industrial corridor and the effects of major transport infrastructure projects, which was on the agenda of the “Future of Asia” Conference in Tokyo on May 22.

The Vietnamese government will develop its transport infrastructure to increase the efficiency of the East-West and North-South economic corridors, said Dung.

He added that several corridors have been built and upgraded, including the East-West road connecting Vietnam to Laos and Thailand, the southern corridor connecting Vietnam to Cambodia and Thailand and the North-South road running from Hanoi through Hai Phong to China’s Kunming province.

According to Dung, Vietnam’s industrial development is based on the principle of ensuring that development is equally distributed amongst the regions and links with major economic centres in neighbouring countries.

The government will pay special attention to developing industry in the northern region, manufacturing in the central region and the oil industry in the southern region, he said.

Participants in the discussion agreed that it is vital that Asian countries work together to develop transport links to improve the distribution of goods and services around the region.

The “East Asian Industrial Corridor” initiative was put forward by the Japanese Ministry of Economics, Trade and Industry (METI) in August 2008 and developed by the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).