Countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) have agreed to expand cross-border permit quotas for trucks and tourist buses.
Transport officials from Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and southern China met in Bangkok recently to hammer out new quotas under the Cross-Border Transport Facilitation Agreement (CBTA). Under the revised agreement, each country, except Myanmar, will have a quota of 500 cross-border permits.
“We are now on the plan, and we are now studying its issues and mechanism,” said Chan Dara, Director-General of the transport department at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport. “We will bring our issues on vehicle safety and controlling the cross-border flow of illegal goods to the table at the next meeting.”
Cambodia currently already has a quota of 500 vehicles with Vietnam under a bilateral agreement. However, the agreement with Thailand, in place since 2002, only allows 40 commercial trucks and tourist buses to cross the border each day.
The new quotas will be put into effect on December 1, according to the Bangkok Post.
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