| China, ASEAN issue joint statement on port development |
| Tuesday,October 30,2007 Posted: 08:29 BJT(0029 GMT) xinhua |
China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) issued a joint statement on port development and cooperation aiming at shore up the role of shipping and ports in China-ASEAN trade in the southern Chinese city of Nanning on Monday. During the two-day meeting of transport and communication ministers, China and ASEAN had reached consensus on the final Draft of the ASEAN-China Maritime Transport Agreement, and agreed to submit this document for signing at the 6th ASEAN-China Transport Ministers' Meeting to be held in Singapore on November 2, 2007. The two sides also showed satisfaction on the Draft of the Strategic Plan for ASEAN-China Transport Cooperation, and have agreed to adopt the Strategic Plan as soon as possible so as to develop the port cooperation plan and identify the top priority cooperation projects, the statement said. China and ASEAN recognized the need to establish the ASEAN-China port coordination mechanism, aiming at an effective implementation of relevant cooperation activities. The two sides said they will encourage and support the port cooperation in the sub-regional groupings. The detailed cooperation will be discussed under the future Strategic Plan for ASEAN-China Transport Cooperation. China and ASEAN also vowed to improve investment environment and develop the related facilitative policies, support enterprises to participate in the port infrastructure development, and expand financing channels. They will continue to support the utilization of ASEAN-China Cooperation Fund to promote the human resources development, personnel training and technical and information exchanges in port construction and management, said the statement. Nine of the 10-nation ASEAN, excluding Laos, are maritime countries. Port economies play a crucial role in Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and Vietnam. Statistics show that by the end of last year, China has more than 1,400 ports, handling 5.57 billion tons of cargo throughput in 2006. "Last year alone, 100 billion U.S. dollars of goods in the China-ASIAN bilateral trade are handled via ports and shipping, that's more than half of the total trade volume," Chinese Transportation Minister Li Shenglin said at the forum. Bilateral trade between the two sides reached 160.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2006, more than twenty-folded the amount in 1991 when China and the ASEAN forged dialog relations. Themed "Enhancing Regional Cooperation, Promoting Common Development", the ASEAN-China Port Development and Cooperation Forum was held during the 4th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) in Nanning on October 28 to 29. Port cooperation is the overriding theme of this year's Expo. Some 450 corporate executives of port administration, shipping, logistics, shipbuilding and repair, port equipment manufacturing companies, and experts met at the forum to exchange views on the impact of the international shipping industry on regional port cooperation and logistics, as well as the development strategy and financing of ports and port cities. The 10-member ASEAN comprise Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar. |
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