Initial implementation of the technical aid package in preparation forthe ADB-funded project on corridor towns development along the GreaterMekong Sub-region, CTDP, was reported at a seminar in in the centralprovince of Quang Tri on June 8.

The CTDP wasdesigned to turn transport corridors into synchronous economic corridorsthrough upgrading priority infrastructure.

Thetechnical aid package will prepare for later investment in proposedpriority infrastructure and build management capacity for corridortowns.

Vietnam ’s corridor towns benefiting fromthe project include Dong Ha city and Lao Bao town in Quang Tri, and MocBai town in the southwestern province of Tay Ninh , which arelocated on a strategic position for the local economic development.

Quang Tri is the gateway of the East-West Economic Corridor while TayNinh is the gateway of the GMS southern economic corridor, said NguyenQuan Chinh, Vice Chairman of the Quang Tri People’s Committee, CTDPmanagement board in Vietnam .

The seminarevaluated the socio-economic situation, important development issues andchallenges in the selected corridor towns, as well as earlieractivities.

Priority infrastructure sub-projects were also selected in preparation for the larger-scale project.

In the past, with the support of the Government, ministries, sectorsand international organisations, especially the Asian Development Bank(ADB), provincial authorities have made every effort to lure investmentinto the three transport corridors, aiming to covert them into economictrade corridors./.