Trade forum calls for more border ties

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 ◆ Trade forum calls for more border ties

Local officials and entrepreneurs in Southwest China's Yunnan Province and neighbouring regions of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand vowed at a trade forum last week to further enhance their trade ties to help establish a free-trade area between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The Fifth Xishuangbanna Border Trade and Tourism Fair and a forum on the China-ASEAN free-trade area opened recently in Jinghong, capital of the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous
Prefecture, which borders Laos and Myanmar.

Some 20 overseas delegations from Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam and South Korea took part in the fair and forum.

Zhu Guojun, vice-director of the provincial Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, said: "As a bridge connecting ASEAN countries and China, Yunnan Province will grasp precious opportunities for multilateral co-operation." He noted that the provincial government will promote the export of capital, technology and human resources to ASEAN members.

Yin Xin, the prefecture's Party secretary, said: "Xishuangbanna provides a good platform for enterprises from developed regions in the eastern parts of China to invest in Laos and Myanmar in biotechnological development, manufacturing of consumer goods and the energy industry."

The renovation projects of the Lancang-Mekong River and the Kunming-Bangkok expressway, which are under construction now, are expected to make transportation between Yunnan and neighbouring countries more efficient and convenient. A power station in Jinghong will transmit electricity to northern provinces of Laos, said Yin.

ASEAN countries have become the most important economic partner of Yunnan Province. The value of exports to ASEAN countries last year reached US$565 million, 46 per cent of the province's total figure, according to statistics from the provincial foreign trade department.