ASEAN to Divert More Resources to Infrastructural Projects for Regional DevelopmentThe member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will pool more resources on infrastructural projects and cooperative programs to accelerate regional development, a declaration of the 34th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM-34) said Monday.The Hanoi Declaration, endorsed by ASEAN foreign ministers at the AMM-34 Monday afternoon, said ASEAN member countries have agreed to strengthen their transportation linkages through developing and implementing more extensive land, sea and air infrastructural projects, in order to facilitate the flow of goods and people and to generate higher income for people in the region. Such projects include the Singapore-Kunming Rail Link and the ASEAN Highway Network. ASEAN member countries have agreed to build the trans-ASEAN energy networks consisting of the ASEAN Power Grid and the Trans- ASEAN Gas Pipeline project, which they hoped will ensure the security and sustainability of energy supplies in ASEAN. They urged the international community to participate in these major infrastructural projects by providing technical support. ASEAN foreign ministers are gathering here for a two-day annual meeting to discuss the course of development of the regional group in the future. ASEAN groups all 10 southeastern Asian countries, including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. |
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