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ASEAN
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2000-05-17 21:15:00-04
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Vietnam to give Laos Road to Sea
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Vietnam to fund $35 million road to give Laos access to South China Sea, last two Communist Southeast Asian countries
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It can be a lonely world, particularly for Communist nations in Southeast Asia, but in a show of closeness between the last two Communist nations, Vietnam will fund a $35 million road to give Laos access to the South China Sea. A bilateral agreement was signed between visiting Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and his Laotian counterpart Sisavat Keobounphanh this week in Vientiane. The 135-kilometer road in Laos will link the remote southeastern province of Attapeu with central Kon Tum province in Vietnam. Khai is on a three-day visit to Laos in the final leg of a three-nation tour that has included Burma and Thailand. It his first visit to all three countries since he assumed office in 1997. The Vietnamese prime minister will also visit a Japanese-funded bridge under construction over the Mekong River. The bridge will facilitate faster road links between Thailand, Laos, and eventually Vietnam. Vietnam was instrumental in bringing the Laotian communists to power at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. Both countries have had difficulty over the past decade in reconciling their need for economic progress with the need for political and social change. Another example, of course, is the difficulty that North Korea has had to face in pursuing the same path. Both Laos and Vietnam are Asean members and both are at the bottom in economic development amongst the ten member-strong Asean.
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