Bokeo province chosen Laos' City of Charm for 11th CAEXPO
Bokeo province chosen Laos' City of Charm for 11th CAEXPO
Bokeo province has been chosen as the City of Charm for Laos at next month's 11th China-Asean Expo (CAEXPO) to be held in Nanning, China, where it will showcase its unique appeal to the world.
The Cities of Charm of China and the other 9 Asean member states have also been confirmed as Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of China, Bandar Seri Begawan of Brunei Darussalam, Sihanoukville province of Cambodia, South Sumatra province of Indonesia, Langkawi of Malaysia, Yangon of Myanmar, Davao of the Philippines, Singapore, Nakhon Si Thammarat of Thailand, and Binh Thuan of Vietnam.
Bokeo province will arrange a series of promotional and business networking programmes at the 11th CAEXPO to highlight its scenic landscape, distinctive folk customs and abundant resources, and in particular, recent achievements it has made in special economic zones and cross-border cooperation.
The province is set to seize more opportunities for cooperation with its counterparts in China and other Asean counties.
The Pavilion of Cities of Charm remains a key focus of the CAEXPO since being launched at the 2nd expo in 2005, aiming to showcase tourism, culture, education, science and technology of the cities concerned and to promote cooperation among them. 104 Chinese and Asean cities have been chosen and displayed at the previous 10 CAEXPOs.
For Laos, five cities have previously been named Cities of Charm: Luang Prabang, Vientiane three times, Savannakhet twice, Khammuan twice, and Champasak province.
The annual expo is sponsored by China's Ministry of Commerce, its counterparts in the 10 Asean member countries and the CAEXPO Secretariat.
According to the organisers, the upcoming 11th CAEXPO will highlight three ‘New' principles to anchor its sustainable development.
First is the New Theme, which refers to building the Maritime Silk Road of the 21st Century.
The11th CAEXPO will highlight this theme when arranging the opening plenary, exhibition, cooperation projects and sideline conferences and forums. It will also aid in launching pioneering projects in major cooperation fields, bilateral policy coordination, road connections, unimpeded trade, monetary circulation and mutual understanding between people.
With New Services, the 11th CAEXPO will highlight the efforts upgrading the China-Asean Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and will forge its own complete value chain to provide more value-added services for cooperation among major market players.
New Opportunities refers to the expo extending its services to Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) cooperation from the 10+1 cooperation. Additionally, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and International Trade Centre (ITC) will soon become supporting organisations of CAEXPO.
vientianes times
