Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Transport Le Manh Hung delivered the call at the fifth Pan-Beibu Gulf Economic Cooperation Forum in Nanning – capital of south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region – on August 12-13.

Hung spoke highly of the strong ASEAN-China partnership, contributing to peace, stability and development in the region.

In its capacity as Chair of ASEAN and coordinator of ASEAN-China relations, Vietnam has actively joined hands with concerned countries to deploy cooperation programmes, including an action plan to realise the ASEAN-China joint statement on the strategic partnership for the 2005-2010 period and building another action plan for the 2011-2016 period, he said.

The deputy minister noted that concerned nations should pay attention to issues such as harmonious standards on roads and railways, as well as customs and quarantine procedures while building the Nanning-Singapore Economic Corridor.

Hung told participants Vietnam and China have spared no efforts to boost cooperation in all fields, helping to deepen their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and step up cooperative ties between ASEAN countries and China.

The forum also served as an opportunity for ASEAN member countries and China to share information and discuss ways of promoting socio-economic development in each country and beefing up economic cooperation and connectivity in the region, he said.

The deputy minister affirmed Vietnam’s support for China’s hosting of the event, saying that Vietnam and ASEAN nations have already made positive opinions at the forum on the basis of mutual benefit and respect of international laws as well as the independence and sovereignty of the participating countries.

On the sidelines of the forum, Hung met with the Chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Ma Biao, to discuss areas of cooperation between Vietnamese localities and Guangxi, especially in transport.

On the theme “Establishment of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area and Pan-Beibu Economic Cooperation”, the forum focused discussions on directions and measures to foster development of the Nanning-Singapore Economic Corridor as CAFTA officially came into force.

The participants applauded positive developments in economic and trade cooperation between ASEAN and China in recent years. China is now the bloc’s third largest trading partner, after Japan and the European Union.

Since 2003, two-way trade has grown by 26 percent annually, from US$59.6 billion to US$192.7 billion in 2008. During the first five months of 2010, bilateral trade saw a year-on-year rise of 58 percent.

The establishment of CAFTA, which boasts a population of almost 2 billion and a combined GDP of over US$6 trillion, is expected to further lift economic relations between the two sides.

As part of the forum, the delegates held dialogues with leaders of a number of companies and groups named in the Fortune Magazine 500 top firms.

The Mayors’ Forum on Pan-Beibu Gulf Regional Economic Cooperation is being held in Beihai city of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on August 13-14 to seek ways of increasing cooperation among regional cities.

Representatives of Vietnam’s northern Hai Phong, Ha Long and Mong Cai cities and Lang Son and Cao Bang provinces attended the event./