[Tlc] TL-Vietnam/Laos/Thailand bridge

[justinm at ucr.edu]

2007-0823 - VietnamNet Bridge - Second highway to link with
Laos, Thailand

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/social/2007/08/733148/

Second highway to link with Laos, Thailand
21:16' 23/08/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – A proposal to develop another trans-Asia
highway linking central Vietnam with Laos and Thailand,
officially called the Second East-West Economic Corridor (or
EWEC-2), has been put forward by the central city of Da Nang.

Under the proposal, the EWEC-2 would run from Tien Sa Port in
Da Nang through Highways No. 14B and 14D to Dakt-oc Border
Gate in Quang Nam Province, to Sekong and Pakse in Laos, and
Chongmek and Nakhon in Thailand before reaching Bangkok.

According to recent surveys conducted by Da Nang’s Planning
and Investment Department, the proposed EWEC-2 highway would
be 987km long, 400km shorter than the road from Da Nang to
Bangkok and would use the existing EWEC running across Lao Bao
Border Gate in Quang Tri Province.

However, a 123km stretch of the planned EWEC-2, from Dakt-oc
Border Gate to Sekong, had not been asphalted, said Le Huu
Doc, deputy director of Da Nang Planning and Investment
Department.

Doc said, if the proposal were realised, it would help pave
the way for economic development of Vietnam’s central
provinces and Boloven Highlands in Laos, which has also great
potential for developing tourism and hydropower.

Da Nang People’s Committee proposed that the development of
the EWEC-2 should be included in the Greater Mekong Subregion
(GMS) programme that began in 1992 with the Asian Development
Bank’s assistance.

The GMS programme was designed to enhance economic relations
between Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the
Yunnan Province in China.

Doc said the Da Nang City authority on Monday submitted their
plan for development of the EWEC-2 to the Ministry of Planning
and Investment.

He said the plan would also be presented at an
investment-trade-tourism forum that will be chaired by deputy
Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem in Da Nang on August 28.

This is part of the EWEC Week 2007 held by the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs from August 27 to September 2, which will be
attended by ministerial delegates from GMS-member countries
and representatives of ADB, the Japan International
Cooperation Agency, the Japan Bank of International
Cooperation and Japan External Trade Organisation.

According to Da Nang Trade Department, more than 120 companies
have registered for the EWEC International Trade Fair 2007,
part of the EWEC Week 2007.

These include companies from Laos, Myanmar, Thailand,
Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia and South
Korea.

(Source: Viet Nam News)

______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
2617 Humanities Building
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu