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MANILA : China, Thailand and Laos on Thursday agreed to build a bridge across the Mekong River that will directly link Yunnan province with Bangkok by road, the Asian Development Bank said.
To be completed in 2011, the bridge will be jointly financed by Beijing and Bangkok, the Manila-based lender said without giving other details.
The bridge will cross the Mekong between Chiang Khong, in northern Thailand, and Houayxay in Laos.
It will be the third to be built under a 15 year-old regional cooperation programme to link the economies of Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
"When this vital bridge is completed, it will be possible for the first time to travel by land directly from Yunnan, China, through Laos to Thailand," said ADB vice president Lawrence Greenwood.
This would open up "tremendous potential for increased trade, tourism and the further integration of the Mekong region," he said in a statement.
It is the final link in a north-south road system through the Mekong region being developed by nations in the area and the ADB since the Greater Mekong Sub-region initiative was launched in 1992.
The Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Program was launched in 1992 with the aid of the ADB, which wanted to boost economic growth and reduce poverty levels in the area.
- AFP /ls
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