ASEAN nations are a step closer towards the ambitious goal of a single aviation market with its transport ministers adopting two protocols to integrate air transport in the region.
In a signing ceremony wrapping up the two-day 25th Asean Transport Ministers’ Meeting (ATM) in Hanoi, the 10 attending ministers signed a protocol to support air transport ancillary services within the bloc.
According to the Vietnam News portal, they also passed another protocol to recognise each other’s flight simulation training devices.
“Our bloc and partners have been cooperating and coordinating to better develop the aviation network,” Vietnamese Transport Minister Nguyen Van The said after the signing ceremony.
“But besides the two signed protocols, we also reached agreement on various programmes and projects to develop transport connectivity, especially cooperation programmes between Asean and three partner countries next year, and some long term visions for the coming years,” he said.
Apart from the Asean meeting, there were also three separate meetings between Asean and China, Japan and South Korea, respectively, on the sidelines.
Ministers discussed activities and projects to enhance transport connectivity between bloc members and the three countries during the meetings.
As talks mainly revolved on air connectivity, a notable absentee in the agenda was issues on rail transport.
The sector’s absence in the bloc’s discussions is believed to be due to the costly investment for railways, which make the countries hesitant to expand their train networks.
“Most of the countries in the region aren’t that well-off, so they often seek cooperation with other countries, usually via official development assistance,” Nguyen said.
He said the biggest rail project Asean is working on is an inter-region rail line starting from Singapore and going all the way to Kunming, China.
He added that Vietnam is still preparing for its high speed train mega project linking the north and south of the country and also with Laos and Cambodia.