Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam willprovide all possible conditions it can for international investors, donors andorganisations to get involved in developing transport infrastructure in thecountry, said Transport Minister Nguyen Van The.

Speaking at a session on infrastructure development and financing as part ofthe Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Business Summit in Hanoi on March 30, Thesaid that infrastructure plays a special important role in socio-economicdevelopment of a nation and infrastructure development is a priority of many developingcountries, including Vietnam.

Over the past years, the Vietnamese Government has spent much, about 9-10percent of its annual GDP, on transport, energy, telecommunications and waterinfrastructure, he said.

However, transport infrastructure system in Vietnam still has a smallscale with asynchronous connection. The country now has only 756 kilometers ofexpressway while the railway system, mainly built inthe French-dominated period, is out-of-date. There are 21 airports, includingeight international ones but none of them meets regional standards.

According to the minister, Vietnam plans to continue completing its expresswaysystem in the coming time. Between now and 2020, the country expects to finish construction of about 654 kilometers out of 1,300 kilometers of highway.

It also considers the building of many new roads and hi-speed railwaysto get connected with ASEAN, GMS and trans-Asia road systems, while payingattention to airport development, including the construction of Long ThanhInternational Airport with capacity of 100 million passengers and 5 milliontonnes of cargo in the southern province of Dong Nai, he said.

In this process, Vietnamhopes to receive more support and assistance, especially official developmentassistance (ODA), from donors and governments, The stressed.

Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Umeda Kunio said his Government has put forth aninitiative to promote quality infrastructure as well as made efforts to improveconnectivity in the GMS region.

As a partner of the GMS, Japan has provided strong support for fostering theregional economic growth, contributing to narrowing the development gap as wellas boosting investment and trade, through infrastructure development projects.

Japan’s assistance not only covers hard infrastructure development such asexpressways and bridges but also human resources training and development ofareas along the economic corridor, he said.

He pledged to continue increasing support for GMS countries in an effort tocreate a new momentum for regional collaboration.

According to Dag Detter, BCG senior advisor, renowned authorand advisor in public asset utilisation, infrastructure plays a fantastic role in economicdevelopment. Developing infrastructure needs the involvement of both public andprivate sectors.

The first-ever GreaterMekong Subregion (GMS) Business Summit forms part of the sixth GMS Summit(GMS-6) and the 10th Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Summit(CLV-10).

As an initiative of host Vietnam, the event aims tostrengthen dialogues between enterprises and governments and connect businessesin the region and the world, while encouraging resources from the privatesector for the GMS Programme.-VNA