BANGKOK, Nov. 2 Kyodo
The leaders of the five ACMECS countries -- Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam -- are to issue a declaration Thursday on a Partnership in Combating Avian Influenza and other Infectious Disease at their summit in Bangkok, Thai Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon said Wednesday.
Speaking after a meeting of ACMECS foreign ministers, Kantathi said all five countries recognized the threat posed by avian influenza and agreed to work closely to combat and prevent the outbreak of bird flu by exchanging information and research and by developing a vaccine against the dangerous H5N1 strain.
''The ACMECS members agreed to give full cooperation on bird flu and Thailand proposed giving vaccines to people who work and live near poultry farms, as well as people who are ill because it's very easy for sick people to be affected by bird flu, Kantathi said.
Vimon Kidchob, director general of Thailand's international economic affairs department, added Thailand and Cambodia are to sign a memorandum of understanding Thursday on an ACMECS plan to create a single visa for tourists wanting to visit any or all of the five countries in the ACMECS region.
But Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam have yet to join the plan that is designed to reduce visa fees and paperwork for tourists who want to the visit the region under the ''five countries, one destination'' concept.
Vimon said, however, the other three ACMECS members are expected to join within three years.
''We will use technology to convince the other three countries that a single visa will be safe for security and can promote their tourism; especially, we can share blacklist-information in a database,'' Vimon said.
The ACMECS leaders' summit Thursday will bring together Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Myanmar Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Soe Win, Lao Prime Minister Boungnang Vorachit, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai.
The five are to discuss a host of issues, including trade and investment, agriculture, industry, transport, tourism, human development and public health.
ACMECS, the Ayawaddy-Chao Phraya-Mekong Cooperation Strategy, is named after the three main rivers in the region.
It was set up at the instigation of Thaksin to strengthen economic cooperation among the five countries along the rivers.
The first meeting, without Vietnam, was in 2003 in Bagan, Myanmar.
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