Speaking at the launch ceremony on February 6, Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc praised the effort and close co-ordination of the Vietnam-Laos special working group in rolling out this system.
He said the launch will encourage countries to expand the model to other international checkpoints along the East-West Economic Corridor, as part of the Cross-Border Transport Agreement in the Greater Mekong Subregion.
Deputy PM Phuc urged authorities from both countries to focus on improving both soft and hard infrastructure, especially reducing administrative barriers to create a more favourable business climate and promote bilateral trade and investment.
The launch of the single-stop system at the Lao Bao-Dansavanh is expected to help transform landlocked Laos into a transit hub in the GMS and help Quang Tri and Savannakhet provinces, where the crossing is located, to utilise their advantages for economic development.
The 1,450-kilometre East-West Economic Corridor connects four countries in the GMS and is strategically significant to economic development and poverty reduction in both Laos and Vietnam.
