May 8, Quang Binh, Vietnam – The MI team led by Executive Director Dr. Watcharas Leelawath paid a courtesy visit today to Mr. Le Minh Ngan, Vice Chairman of the Quang Binh Provincial People’s Committee. , Vietnam.

The visit comes a month after the Business to Government (B2G) meeting held last April 10 in Khammouane, Lao PDR that brought together business and government stakeholders from Khammouane as well as two other border provinces of Quang Binh and Nakhon Phanom, Thailand.  

The team discussed with Mr. Le Minh Ngan updates on the status of the Memorandum of Understanding between MI and the three provincial governments, which was one of the notable agreements reached in the B2G meeting. Dr. Watcharas reiterated the importance of the B2G meetings in facilitating better cross-border trading in the border provinces, as well as the pathways it can open to building good relationships between MI and the provincial governments like Quang Binh in other capacity development activities.

Mr. Le Minh Ngan on the other hand thanked MI for organizing initiatives such as the B2G meeting, which provided governments of the provinces a chance to discuss issues concerning cross-border trade. He reported that relevant agencies have already been informed of the issues and recommendations forwarded during the last B2G meeting, and proposals beyond the purview of the local government will be submitted to higher authorities for further consideration and discussion. He likewise suggested that MI continue the B2G initiatives in order to further fast track work on cross-border trade facilitation in the East West Economic Corridor.

Together with Dr. Watcharas were EWEC Project Director Ms. Jutamas Thongcharoen and staff members from the EWEC Vietnam Field Office.