PM proposes on setting ACMECS Fund

BANGKOK, June 16 (TNA) - Realising that it would be difficult to implement projects under the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) Master Plan, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha proposed to ACMECS government leaders to establish ACMECS Fund. In addressing to four other government leaders of member countries, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar, Gen. Prayut said during the opening of ACMECS Summit in Bangkok today, that Thailand would first offer money in setting up the fund. He invited member countries as well as countries in Asia, Europe, international organisations and financial institutions to help contribute money for the planned fund which could strengthen economy in this region. ACMECS member countries of have abundant natural and human resources and are located on the strategic areas, like a “bridge”, linking economies and markets between the Indian and Pacific oceans, said Gen. Prayut. Without doubt, they attract foreign investors worldwide but are confronting changes in technology and politics, economic and social problems. Thailand, therefore, wants to reform ACMECS so that it could cope with those challenges, proposing a five-year ACMECS Master Plan, starting between 2019 – 2023, under three slogans including Seamless Connectivity, Synchronized ACMECS Economics and Smart and Sustainable ACMECS, said Gen. Prayut. The four other government leaders participating the 8th ACMECS Summit are Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisulith, Myanmar President U Win Myint and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. (TNA)