Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Cong is joining 500 delegates from ministries, sectors, research institutes and enterprises of ASEAN countries and China at the 10^th Pan-Tonkin Gulf Economic Cooperation Forum that opened in Nanning province of China’s Zhuang Autonomous Region on 24 May.

Delegates at the 10th Pan-Tonkin Gulf Economic Cooperation Forum (Photo: VNA)

Addressing a ministerial-level dialogue, Deputy Minister Cong said that Vietnam speaks highly of the building of multi-mode transport routes connecting China’s southwestern region with Vietnamese localities as well as other countries in the region.

The routes help save time and cost of transporting goods from ASEAN countries to central Asian and European countries, he said.

He also called for all countries to continue cooperating closely in prioritised areas such as infrastructure, environmental protection, agriculture, and people-to-people contact, while mobilising capital and sponsorship for major projects within their partnership framework.

During the event, participants discussed the achievements in cooperation after 10 years of organising the forum, the building of multi-mode transport routes between ASEAN and China through enhancing transport and infrastructure connection, and seaport cooperation, thereby strengthening exchange, trade, investment cooperation and people-to-people contact between the two sides.

Launched in 2016, the Pan-Tonkin Gulf Economic Cooperation Forum groups China’s three provinces of Guangxi, Guangdong and Hainan, and 10 ASEAN countries - Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.

The forum also drew representatives from the ASEAN Secretariat, sponsor organisations such as the Asian Development Bank, as well as international scholars.

(Source: VNA)