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The Star
09-08-2025
- Business
- The Star
Asean rail tourism corridor takes centre stage at Mekong's international forum
VIENTIANE (Laotian Times): Laos hosted the Mekong Tourism Forum 2025 in Luang Prabang recently, spotlighting the proposed Asean Rail Tourism Corridor (ARTC) as a key initiative to boost regional travel and connectivity. Held under the theme 'United Journey – Stronger Together,' the forum brought together tourism officials and business leaders from Laos, Cambodia, China, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam to discuss ways to improve cross-border travel. A key session was the first Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Tourism Private Sector Workshop, which focused on strengthening regional connectivity through initiatives such as the ARTC. The ARTC aims to link major cities, including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Nong Khai, Vientiane, and Boten, through upgraded rail systems and streamlined immigration processes to make travel across Southeast Asia more efficient. Phase 1 of the project (2024–2029) will focus on infrastructure readiness, border coordination, and intergovernmental collaboration. It builds on existing networks like the Laos–China Railway and the Laos–Thailand rail link, which have already enhanced mobility in the region. By expanding these connections, the ARTC is expected to drive tourism growth and support more sustainable, inclusive development across the Greater Mekong Subregion. The forum also introduced the GMS Tourism Strategy 2030, a regional framework designed to encourage high-quality, sustainable tourism and help the region recover from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. The strategy prioritizes development in lesser-known destinations and aims to distribute tourism benefits more evenly. MTF 2025 concluded with the announcement that Myanmar as the next host of the forum in 2026. Alongside the main sessions, a tourism exhibition showcased cultural products, local food, and community-based travel experiences, highlighting the region's commitment to sustainable tourism. Phouthone Dalalom, Deputy Director General of the Tourism Marketing Department at Laos's Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, emphasized the importance of visitors from neighboring countries and said he hopes the forum will help increase tourist arrivals and strengthen regional ties. - Xinhua
Bangkok Post
04-08-2025
- Politics
- Bangkok Post
Conflict undermines cooperation
The long-standing border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand has again escalated to actual conflict. Dozens of people have been killed, more have been injured, and more than 170,000 people have had to flee their homes. Cross-border trade and tourism are on hold. As I write this piece, a fragile ceasefire is still in place, but we need more than this; we need an end to hostilities between the two countries. Let me be clear, there is no treasure chest to be won here. The land in dispute has little intrinsic value. The most sensitive issue is the ownership of relatively small pieces of land that contain the ruins of two Hindu temples. I am sure I am not the only person to wonder what the priests who served the temples would think of their ruins being the centrepiece of armed conflict. The broader issue is that, in today's world, we increasingly face problems that can only be solved through collective action. This was not so true even a few decades ago. Then, South Korea, Taiwan, or Singapore could, with the right mix of policies, invite investors to build manufacturing or assembly centres that would produce consumer goods for Western markets, paying good wages. Factory Asia required considerable work on the part of the governments, but not necessarily the cooperation of their neighbours. Today, there is still room to join Factory Asia; however, emerging problems will make development harder, problems that require worldwide, coordinated action. Climate change is one such challenge. Without a collective shift in our behaviour and a globally coordinated effort, we will continue to suffer from heatwaves, more intense storms, and higher sea levels, which will degrade seaports and coastal agricultural areas. We will only turn back this present danger if we have global cooperation on an unprecedented scale. Conflict of the type seen at the border of Cambodia and Thailand will inhibit public collaboration between the two countries, weakening Southeast Asia's voice in any global effort. Climate change is only one of the problems we face that requires an international effort to solve. Across Southeast Asia, fish stocks are collapsing. This imperils the food security of many people in the region. But, as is often said, fish do not need passports; they travel from one part of the oceans to another, and without a general agreement to reduce overfishing, the stocks will not recover. Hostile relations between any of the countries in Southeast Asia will make any effort to address this much harder. I'm sure every reader has a list of problems they worry about, such as a new pandemic. Some of these will demand a coordinated multi-country effort. It is possible to have this. In an earlier dustup between Cambodia and Thailand, in 2009, as a Director for the Asian Development Bank (ADB), I was privileged to chair a meeting in Bangkok of the transport sector of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) programme. This initiative brings together the governments of mainland Southeast Asia, including Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Thailand, as well as China, which participates through Yunnan Province and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. These governments have come together to jointly plan and carry out cross-border projects that enhance the potential for sustainable development. Transportation is a key element, especially for the interior areas of these countries. Without access to the coast, the people of these areas are unable to participate in the international trade that has driven regional development. Cross-border road systems enable trucks to transport goods from factories to ports in neighbouring countries. At the local level, improved roads ease travel to markets, schools, and health facilities. At the time of the Bangkok meeting, the GMS had mobilised roughly $10 billion (324.7 billion baht) to fund transportation projects. The government officials had gathered to consider how to move forward in the sector. As the teams reviewed project proposals, news arrived of a fight at the border between Cambodia and Thailand. We understood that at least one person had died and many were injured. I watched as the teams agonised over whether they could continue collaborating. Fairly quickly, however, the decision was made by all to continue. It was explained to me that, although the relationship between the two countries was strained, the officials at our meeting had been tasked with working together. They understood that the quality of life and the livelihoods of literally millions of people in the region depended on improved transport, something that could not occur without meaningful collaboration. This decision required political courage, and I don't know if even the most dedicated official could have sustained that position if the effort had needed more than a few days and had been more in the public eye. Unfortunately, the problems that face the countries of Southeast Asia, indeed the problems that face the global community, will require both sustained and very public cooperation. The ceasefire in place is welcome, but it should be viewed as a first step towards building a relationship that will enable Cambodia and Thailand to collaborate meaningfully in addressing the broader problems that face us.
The Star
14-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Chinese freight vehicles depart for Vietnam on milestone journey
Freight trucks lining to depart from Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan province, bound for Hanoi on May 14, 2025. - China Daily/ANN BEIJING: A total of 18 freight trucks and two buses departed from China on Wednesday (May 14) bound for Hanoi, Vietnam, marking the first time Chinese freight vehicles have entered the Vietnamese hinterland under the Cross-Border Transport Agreement of the Greater Mekong Subregion initiative. The convoy, carrying a range of cargo including electronic components, fresh vegetables, and general merchandise, set off from Kunming in Southwest China's Yunnan province and Nanning in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. The vehicles are expected to arrive in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, on Thursday. The milestone journey underscores deepening transport cooperation between China and Vietnam and is expected to significantly enhance cross-border logistics efficiency and promote regional economic integration. - China Daily/ANN
South China Morning Post
23-02-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Formal Asean-China framework could plug the gap in Mekong River cooperation
Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at [email protected] or filling in this Google form . Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification Advertisement In a ceremony held last August, Cambodia broke ground on the controversial China-backed Funan Techo canal . Formally designated as a logistical solution linking Phnom Penh to the Gulf of Thailand, the canal's potential as a geopolitical threat features heavily in independent analyses. Facing a move that should generate worry for both regional partners and China's adversaries, Vietnam's official narrative has been one of neutrality. Hanoi's approach is not unjustified. This response enables a potential resolution via channels between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). For Vietnam, insecurity in the Mekong Delta is a headache that begins upstream in China. Profound changes to the delta's ecosystem can be linked to a series of Chinese hydropower dams. Meanwhile, China's holding back of key operational data on Mekong River storage makes it a crucial but exasperating partner. Wrangling with Cambodia over a project linked to the Belt and Road Initiative also risks colliding with China's growing economic dominance in the region, a sensitive topic Hanoi has sought to avoid. Asean is a potential recourse for water resource diplomacy given Vietnam's tricky situation. A formal Asean-China framework could plug the gap in Mekong River cooperation. Both the Greater Mekong Subregion and Lancang-Mekong Cooperation programmes have all six riparian countries as signatories, but neither has the appropriate procedures in place for resource management. The Mekong River Commission, which provides dispute resolution, does not include China and Myanmar. Advertisement Vietnam has an interest in spearheading Asean-China cooperation on water resources as Asean gives it the leverage to raise issues that have long gone unresolved. In addition, Asean's dispute settlement mechanism has potential in the water resources context. Given the proliferation of transboundary basins and aquifers in the region, a project that connects China and Asean on water management can benefit everyone.
