Mr. Nguyen Hong Dien, Viet Nam’s Minister of Industry and Trade, requested support from Mr. Lu Xinshe, Party Secretary of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China (GZAR, PRC), to facilitate cross-border trade between Viet Nam and the PRC by (i) upgrading border gates, (ii) restoring customs services at sealed off border gates, and (iii) extending the operating hours of customs clearance services at border gates, border crossings, and markets.

The 14th Mekong-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting was held on 6 August 2021 chaired by Mr. Motegi Toshimitsu, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, and attended by Foreign Ministers of the Mekong subregion. The meeting underscored that Japan will (i) continuously support mutual development through the Mekong-Japan cooperation framework, and (ii) help Mekong countries overcome the fight against COVID-19.

Ho Chi Minh City, a COVID-19 hotspot in Viet Nam, received medical supplies from the Government of Cambodia to help them overcome the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The shipment, which arrived on 19 July, comprises of 1 million medical face masks, 100,000 N95 face masks, 100 five-liter oxygen generators and cash worth $200,000. Writing to Prime Minister Hun Sen, Viet Nam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his gratitude for the assistance, and emphasized that the donation is evidence of close friendship, solidarity and noble tradition of mutual support between the two nations

The Thai Durian Association called on the Government of Thailand to ease the bottleneck hindering durian exports to the People's Republic of China (PRC) by linking Thailand's rail network with the Lao PDR-PRC railway. The railway offers a potential route for durian shipments to the PRC, where there is huge demand for the fruit. Mr. Phanusak Saiphanich, chairman of the association, notes there is currently no connection between the Thai rail network and the Lao PDR-PRC railway.

The Cambodia Business Council (CBC) in Bangkok and