The Ministerial Meeting of the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) was held in Myanmar’s Mandalay City from May 3-4 with Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win in the chair.

The Vietnamese delegation was headed by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem.

The meeting aimed to review ACMECS cooperation after the third ACMECS Ministerial Meeting held in Laos in July last year and to prepare for the third ACMECS Summit scheduled for Hanoi from October 22-26.

ACMECS Ministers heard a report on the implementation of the ACMECS action plan and ACMECS projects between 2006-2008.

On agriculture, they agreed to accelerate the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cultivation under contract. For transport, they considered Thailand’s proposal to create links with a view to turning Southeast Asia into Asia’s road transport centre and agreed to organize another ministerial meeting to discuss the issue.

The ministers also appreciated the efforts made by Vietnam, Laos and Thailand in promoting the signing of the agreement on road transport and tourism activities.

They agreed upon Vietnam’s initiative of adopting senior ACMECS leaders’ statements on facilitating trade, investment and tourism and voiced their support for Vietnam and Thailand’s signing of a MoU on cooperation in vocational training for ACMECS countries. They encouraged member countries to continue giving proposals and introducing new initiatives for the content of the summit and agreed that the next ACMECS Ministerial Meeting will be held in Thailand in 2008.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Deputy Foreign Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem met with his Lao counterpart Thongloun Sisolith and Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win to compare notes on bilateral cooperation and regional and international issues of common concern.