THE VIETNAMESE MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT AND THE CHINESE MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT HAVE STRENGTHENED THEIR COOPERATION IN MANY FIELDS

Minister of Transport of Vietnam Truong Quang Nghia and Chinese Minister of Transport Ly Tieu Bang and the Vietnam - China delegation at the meeting. 

At the meeting, Minister Truong Quang Nghia thanked China's Minister of Transport Ly Tieu Bang for taking the time to receive the Vietnamese Ministry of Transport and expressed his honor to accompany Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to attend the Fair, the 13th China - ASEAN Investment Summit in Nanning and official visit to China in Beijing.

The two Ministers congratulated their newly appointed counterparts as ministers of the two Ministry of Transport Vietnam and China on the health and success of their new position.

Assessing the general situation of transport cooperation between the two ministries, Minister Truong Quang Nghia said that up to now, the Vietnam - China friendship cooperation relationship has developed rapidly and extensively in all fields; in which the two countries have established a close and comprehensive relationship in the transport sector. In particular, the transport cooperation between Vietnam and China recently has been comprehensively deployed in all fields; many agreements and cooperation agreements in the fields of navigation, aviation, road, railway, and waterways have been signed and implemented by both sides.

Minister of Transport Truong Quang Nghia presented a souvenir gift of a landscape painting of Hoan Kiem Lake to China's Minister of Transport, Li Xiaoping.

"In addition, both sides have also actively coordinated the implementation of transport infrastructure connection projects within the framework of the Vietnam - China "Two Corridors, One Economic Belt" cooperation; connection projects at the border area between the two countries as well as the completion of the construction of expressways in the territory of Vietnam play an important role in connecting traffic between the two countries in the above cooperation framework, facilitate the favorable for bilateral cooperation, basically meet the needs of goods exchange, import and export as well as citizens' travel needs, contribute to promoting economic, trade and tourism exchanges between the two sides", Vietnamese Minister of Transport Truong Quang Nghia affirmed.

On the basis of the Vietnam-China border railway agreement signed in 1992, the two countries' railways sectors are cooperating to organize the international transportation of goods and passengers on the Hanoi - Nanning, Hanoi - Kunming, and Hanoi - Beijing route. Both sides also agreed, from 1 January 2009, to operate trains in pairs daily without changing cars from Gia Lam to Nam Ninh and vice versa.

Regarding the route connecting with China railway through the Lao Cai border gate, in order to ensure the continuity of intermodal rail transport between the two countries on this line, Vietnam has discussed with China to research plan to build a railway gauge section which will connect the existing Hanoi - Lao Cai railway with China's new Kunming - Ha Khau Bac railway in Lao Cai - Ha Khau area.

Regarding the Hanoi urban railway project, Cat Linh - Ha VND route: Although the project has been approved by the Government with a number of specific mechanisms to remove difficulties, problems and speed up the project progress. However, there are still some problems about EPC contract implementation mechanisms such as Supplementary Loan Agreement for the Project, the procurement of materials and equipment... The Vietnamese viewpoint is to disassemble and completely solve the problems as soon as possible. Yesterday (12th September), both sides agreed to sign a framework contract which is worth $ 250.62 million in a timely service credit package for 2017.

Regarding roads, on the basis of the Protocols, Ministries of Transport of both countries organized the traffic on freight and passenger routes to each other's inland and exchanged transport permits and issued Vietnam - China transport license to the transport enterprises of the two countries, which contributes to the development of economic and trade cooperation and meet the travel needs between two countries’ peoples. However, to further facilitate the transport companies to participate in exploiting the route deep into the two countries' territory, it is recommended that the relevant agencies of the two sides need to further simplify customs, quarantine, entry, and exit procedures at border areas.

In the maritime sector, on the basis of the Vietnam-China Maritime Agreement signed in 1992, up to now, there have been many open and effective sea freight routes between the two countries. Vietnam hopes the two nations to further promote sea transportation and continue to coordinate closely in maritime safety assurance and maritime search and rescue according to international practices.

On this occasion, Minister Truong Quang Nghia thanked Minister Ly Tieu Bang for directing related units to actively participate in the search for Vietnam's CASA 212 aircraft in distress in the Gulf of Tonkin last June 2016.

In terms of aviation, only in the first 6 months of 2016, the total transport on the routes between the two countries reached over 1.1 million passengers, an increase of nearly 58% over the same period 2015. The transport market share of Vietnamese airlines reaches 50% with average seat occupancy above 80%. It is expected that in 2016, the total passenger transport between the two countries will reach over 2 million passengers. However, Vietnam Airlines has difficulty in applying for landing and takeoff times in departure/arrival operations to China (both regular and charter flights), including applying for more frequencies as well as exploiting new routes.

On the basis of the results of the cooperation achieved, in the coming time, Minister Truong Quang Nghia suggested that the transport sectors of the two countries need to further strengthen cooperation activities in all transport fields in the spirit of equal cooperation, mutual benefits, especially focusing on resolving problems and difficulties in order to promote the completion of legal frameworks, completion of infrastructure projects as well as the implementation of measures to connect road, railway, and aviation traffic, coordinate to settle cross-border administrative procedures in order to facilitate the transportation of passengers and goods between the two countries, contributing to promoting economic and trade between the two countries.

At the meeting, the Chinese Minister of Transport Li Xiaoping approved the viewpoint of Minister Truong Quang Nghia to develop transport infrastructure for socio-economic development. Minister Li Xiaoping said, the Ministry of Transport of China received the attention and direction of the Central and the support of the people, so from 1978 up to now, transportation in China has developed rapidly in all fields.

Delegation of Ministry of Transport of Vietnam and China

Minister Li Xiaoping also shared some experiences from China that are gathered in the process of construction and development: have clear planning, innovate and mobilize all resources. However, in the process, China has also encountered certain difficulties and obstacles, but with the drastic direction of the Party and Government leaders and the consensus of the people, the Chinese transportation industry has overcome and learned the lesson that it should not be hasty, should respect the safety, concentrate the energy and wisdom of the people.

On that basis, the Ministry of Transport of China is ready to increase sharing and exchanging information and experiences with the Ministry of Transport of Vietnam. At the same time, China's Minister of Transport, Li Tieu Bang, also hopes to receive comments and to learn from the experiences of the Ministry of Transport of Vietnam to develop together ...

Regarding the proposals of the Ministry of Transport of Vietnam, Minister Ly Tieu Bang said that he would immediately resolve issues under his authority such as the aviation and railway sectors, and implement the Free Boat Agreement. Bac Luan estuary ... In addition, the Chinese Ministry of Transport will exchange and coordinate with other ministries to promote the implementation of multi-sector programs and contents.

Both Ministers of Transport of the two countries agreed that, although the meeting time was short but very effective, the two sides frankly exchanged and shared full information about the contents of transport cooperation between Vietnam and China. After the talks, as industry heads, the two ministers will have instructions to their agencies and units to actively implement the discussed contents at the meeting. Minister Truong Quang Nghia and Minister Ly Tieu Bang both agreed to assign the two International Cooperation Departments of the two ministries to be the focal point for coordinating and implementing cooperation activities in the transport field between the two countries.

Minister Truong Quang Nghia also respectfully invited the Chinese Minister of Transport to arrange a time to visit and work with the Ministry of Transport of Vietnam at the earliest appropriate time.

Source: mt.gov.vn