CRI听力: Countries around Beibu Gulf Highlight Regional Cooperation Amid the Economic Crisis

Countries around South China's Beibu Gulf have vowed to strengthen regional economic cooperation in an effort to combat the economic crisis.

During an economic forum in South China's city of Nanning, participants say countries in the region should highlight infrastructure cooperation and further open each other's markets.

Xu Weiyi takes a closer look.

Reporter:

About 400 politicians, intellectuals and business people have been discussing economic issues concerning countries around the Beibu Gulf, which includes China, Vietnam, Malaysia and other countries.

Chen Changzhi is vice chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress. The senior legislator says it's imperative to strengthen regional cooperation amid the global economic crisis.

"Against the backdrop of the financial crisis, regional cooperation is more important than ever. The process of globalization has interwoven countries around the world. As interdependence is growing, no single country can avoid the impact of the crisis and withstand it alone. So we should enhance cooperation, especially regional and sub-regional collaboration. And we should work towards common growth with joint efforts."

Alongkorn Ponlaboot, deputy commerce minister of Thailand, suggests countries around the Beibu Gulf boost cooperation on infrastructure construction to facilitate cross-border trade and investment.

"In order to boost trade, it's very necessary to speed up the construction of cross-border land, air and marine transportation systems. I hope China and Thailand can open air and rail links between Nanning and Bangkok. These links will benefit the economic cooperation among China, Thailand, Vietnam and other countries in the region."

Meanwhile, economists have called on countries in the region to further open their markets to each other and explore new areas of cooperation.

Lu Zhongyuan is vice director of the Development Research Center under China's State Council.

"Opening markets to each other will have a significant impact on boosting trade. The pan-Beibu Bay region is populous and its market potential is huge. Countries in the region should continue to remove tariff and non-tariff barriers among them. Moreover, they should adopt more flexible quality-inspecting measures to foster bilateral and multilateral trade."(wwW.hxen.net)

The annual Pan-Beibu Gulf economic cooperation Forum was launched in 2006. This year's forum will be focused on converting economic crisis into business opportunities by strengthening regional cooperation.

Xu Weiyi, CRI news.