The initiative agreement on single-stop inspections at border crossings would simplify and harmonize border-crossing formalities and procedures to facilitate trade, investment and tourism. The agreed initiative came after Laos and Vietnam recently launched single-stop inspections at the Dansavan-Lao Bao border crossing.
The single-stop inspection model aims to minimize the number of offices that transporters must visit, as well as the amount of paperwork required at borders. The system allows trading partners to declare imports/exports when transiting to and from their countries at a single service point.
Governments of countries in the region have pushed for the introduction of the system in a bid to expedite the shipment of goods. At the 6th Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam (CLMV) Summit held in Vientiane in March 2013, leaders agreed that single-stop inspections should be set up at feasible border crossings to enhance connectivity and facilitate trade, investment, tourism and transportation between the four countries.
The meeting in Bangkok also proposed cross-border economic zones to hasten the transformation of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations into a single production base as envisaged in the blueprint for the ASEAN Economic Community. It would also create supply-chain and value-chain linkages among Southeast Asian countries.
The East-West Economic Corridor, which extends for 1,320 kilometers as a continuous land route between the South China Sea and Andaman Sea, is an initiative aimed at bolstering development and integration between Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam.
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