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Thailand and China agreed to press on with the logistics project to develop and expand trade linkages in Southeast Asia and southern China.

“Thailand is interested to invest in logistics with other Asean member countries with the financial assistance from China,” Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai said after meeting China’s Commerce Minister Chen Deming at the 15th Asean Summit in Hua Hin on Saturday.

The first trade linkage will connect Da Nang, Trat, Mae Sod and Malamang. The second route will link Kanchanaburi and Dawei, where there will be a seaport connecting Asean, China and India. The third route will cover Yunnan, Bangkok and Singapore.

Mrs Porntiva said the Chinese government was ready to support the 15-billion-dollar China-ASEAN loan package for this project under the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS).

“Thailand has proposed many routes and it is necessary for Asean to know if different member countries involved in the project agree with the plan or not.

“We’ll see which routes are worth the investment. We have to ensure t hat the standard of construction will be consistent,” the minister said.

The China-Asean loan package will not cover the routes to be constructed in China, as the country already has its own funding.

Thailand and China also agreed to expand their bilateral economic and trade cooperation. Both sides will come up with a five-year plan by next month, the minister said.

On the new requirement imposed on fruit exports to China, she said the Chinese government agreed to reconsider Thailand’s request for China to extend its sanitary standard certification for Thailand from six months to one year.

The Bangkok Post