Vietnam has actively taken part in developing initiatives for enhanced cooperation within the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) to boost economic growth, strengthen economic connectivity and aid poverty reduction effort in the region.
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| The 22nd Ministerial Conference on "Greater GMS achievements through stronger and pragmatic cooperation" hosted by Vietnam in September, 2017. (Photo: VNA) |
The GMS comprises of Cambodia, China (Yunnan and Guangxi provinces), Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. In 1992, the six countries entered into a programme of sub-regional economic cooperation, designed to enhance economic relations among the countries, as an initiative of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Priority fields include infrastructure development, energy, telecommunications, tourism, trade-investment, human resources, and the environment.
As of December 2017, about US$6 billion has been poured into GMS cooperation projects in Vietnam, representing 30% of the total value of GMS loans and financial aids. Of the amount, transport accounted for 87%, followed by urban development (7.9%), agriculture and natural resources (3.7%), healthcare and social welfare (2.7%), industry and trade (0.4%), trade facilitation and transport (0.2%).
Substantial progress has been made in terms of transport infrastructure development since 1992 with the formation of vital economic corridors to promote trans-border economic and social activities.
Vietnam holds key nodes in three GMS economic corridors – the Southern Coastal Corridor (GMS-SCC) which links Thailand to southern Vietnam via Cambodia, the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) that links Myanmar to Vietnam via central Thailand and Laos, and the North-South Economic Corridor (NSEC) with sub-veins linking China and Vietnam.
The corridors will help Vietnam reap most benefits from improved transport connectivity and growing trade and investment in areas along them.
Many ABD-funded road projects have been completed and put into use, including HCM City-Moc Bai and Dong Ha-Lao Bao routes operational in 2005; and 244km Hanoi-Lao Cai Expressway, the longest of its kind in Vietnam, in 2014.
Vietnam signed the GMS Cross-Border Transport Facilitation Agreement (CBTA) in 1999 and has ratified all CBTA’s annexes, enabling the reduction of amount of time spent in crossing border for vehicles, goods and passengers and facilitating trade.
Since 2012, Vietnam and China have facilitated each other’s vehicles crossing shared borders on the Kunming – Hanoi – Hai Phong and Hanoi – Nanning – Shenzhen routes.
The same year, Vietnam, Thailand and Laos signed a Memorandum of Understanding to expand roads connecting capital cities of the three countries with two large sea ports – Laem Chabang (Thailand) and Hai Phong (Vietnam) on the EWEC.
In terms of energy, Vietnam has taken part in the Regional Indicative Master Plan on Power Interconnection in the GMS, paving the way for the country to bolster electricity trading and push for the establishment of institutions to ensure power security within the region.
By attending meetings of the GMS Regional Power Trade Coordination, Vietnam has got updates on the GMS countries’ markets and energy-related plans and greatly benefited from ADB’s technical support.
The country has played an active role in the GMS’s trade and investment promotion events and enhancing regional partnership in agriculture, tourism, and telecommunications. It has also contributed to the GMS’s effort in controlling cross-border infectious diseases, such as SARS, bird flu, HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis which are priorities of the regional cooperation in healthcare.
This year, Vietnam will host the sixth GMS Summit (GMS-6) in Hanoi from March 29-31. Themed “Leveraging 25 years of cooperation, Building an integrated, sustainable and prosperous GMS”, the GMS-6 is expected to draw about 2,000 delegates and 150 reporters.
It aims to celebrate the 25th founding anniversary of the GMS Programme and define cooperation orientations to build a region of prosperity, integration and sustainable development.
For the first time, a business forum will be held within the framework of the GMS-6 as an initiative of host Vietnam, with a view to increasing dialogues between States and businesses and forging links between regional and global enterprises.
Vietnam highly evaluates India’s role and contributions to regional peace, stability and development, and always regards India as one of its most important partners, the top leader said.
The Party and State leaders expressed their profound respect and boundless gratitude to President Ho Chi Minh, who founded and trained the Communist Party of Vietnam and made immense contributions to the Party and nation’s glorious revolutionary cause.
The NA's Committee for Cultural and Social Affairs has moved fast to reshuffle its organisation after the 14th National Party Congress and the election of deputies to the 16th NA, updating its work agenda to match new directives set out in the resolutions of the 14th National Party Congress and the first Congress of the NA Party Organisation for the 2025–2030 term.
Vietnam and Croatia should strive to double bilateral trade turnover from the current level of 161 million USD; study the establishment of a Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation to create a long-term, stable, and effective framework for collaboration, said Prime Minister Le Minh Hung.
Vice President of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) Jesús Faria expressed deep admiration for President Ho Chi Minh and Vietnam’s indomitable struggle for national independence. He described President Ho Chi Minh as an immortal symbol of 20th-century national liberation movements, whose legacy continues to inspire leftist parties, progressive movements, and peoples across Latin America, including Venezuela.
Vietnam National University, Hanoi must rise even further, becoming a leading academic pillar, a major hub of innovation, and a pioneering force in Vietnam’s higher education system; while also serving as a distinguished and reputable representative of Vietnamese intellect on the international stage.
Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Minh Hang shared Vietnam’s approach to building an independent and self-reliant economy linked to deep international integration, while proposing several key areas for enhanced cooperation between BRICS and partner countries at the Expanded BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting that opened on May 14 in India.
The Central Steering Committee for reviewing the one-year operation of the political system’s apparatus and the two-tier local administration model convened its first session in Hanoi on May 14.
PSNews - The spokesperson stated that the dispatch of personnel by relevant parties to features belonging to Truong Sa without Vietnam’s permission constitutes a violation of Vietnam’s sovereignty under international law. She stressed that such actions run counter to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) as well as ongoing efforts by countries to negotiate a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).
PSNews - Vietnam’s proposals placed the highest priority on ensuring a peaceful and stable environment conducive for continued sustainable development and improving the well-being and happiness of the ASEAN people. They were praised by member states and incorporated into the core contents of the ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on the response to the Middle East crisis.
Both sides emphasised that advancing bilateral relations is a shared strategic choice, and pledged to steadfastly pursue the socialist path and jointly safeguard the socialist regimes and the leadership role of their Communist Parties as their most fundamental common strategic interest, Ambassador He Wei said.
At the meetings, the senior Vietnamese Party official affirmed that Vietnam would continue to work closely with Cambodia to strengthen and deepen bilateral ties, while consistently supporting Cambodia’s peaceful, stable and prosperous development.
Vietnam highly values the support of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in strengthening national capacity in crime prevention and criminal justice, drug control, and addressing emerging challenges, particularly cybercrime, said Ambassador Vu Le Thai Hoang.
NA Chairman Tran Thanh Man underlined that digital transformation must go beyond investing in software or platforms and instead create substantive changes in working methods, advisory quality and operational efficiency.
Consolidating the central steering committees for institutional and legal reform and for judicial reform is necessary in order to streamline organisational structures without reducing responsibilities, while ensuring clear accountability, measurable outputs and concrete results. Following the restructuring, the body will be renamed the central steering committee for institutional improvement and law enforcement, with the Party General Secretary and State President serving as its head.
Bui Thi Minh Hoai was re-elected President of the the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee for the 2026-2031 tenure at the first conference of the 11th-term VFF Central Committee, held before the closing session of its 11th National Congress on May 13 morning in Hanoi.
At the meeting this week, Ambassador Viet briefed the UNGA President on developments during the first two weeks of the conference. He stressed that the current international geopolitical landscape poses numerous complex challenges, while reaffirming Vietnam’s determination, together with other member states, to promote substantive and balanced outcomes at the conference.
The host leader stressed that cooperation between localities, particularly between the capitals of Hanoi and Vientiane, plays an especially important role as a pioneering force in effectively implementing the foreign polices of the two Parties and States, while also serving as a bridge between politics and development, as well as between strategy and concrete action.
More than 1,300 delegates are attending the 11th National Congress of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) for the 2026–2031 tenure, including 1,138 official delegates.
Prime Minister Le Minh Hung praised ministries and agencies for their proactive steps since the beginning of this year and especially from early April to follow the Politburo’s Resolution 57 and Conclusion 18, with clear, positive progress.