China's "the Belt and Road" initiative will lead to the formation of interconnected infrastructure networks in Southeast Asia and south China, helping boost relevant countries' economies as well as narrow their development gaps, according to Vietnamese experts
"The establishment of Southeast Asian infrastructure networks being connected with China's Guangxi and Yunnan will help speed up the development of many ASEAN members, including Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand," Truong Minh Huy Vu, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City-based Center for International Studies, told Xinhua on Monday.
When infrastructure networks become more interconnected, running from the Chinese city of Kunming through Laos to the Thai capital of Bangkok, and when the Southeast Asian market is closely linked with South Asian market via Myanmar, they will facilitate the movement of goods among some ASEAN countries such as Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, Vu said.
He said that better interconnected roads, rails and seaports will give ports in Thailand great advantage, noting that large volumes of goods from Laos and Cambodia are being exported through Thai ports.
According to Vu, Vietnam should avoid infrastructure lock-in effect. "Vietnam should carefully choose points to connect with the regional infrastructure so that its investment will not become scattered and wasteful," he said, adding that the country should also create welfare and economic benefits in areas along infrastructure networks.
Vu said that China's "the Belt and Road Initiative" in ASEAN member countries with land border to China would create a geo-economic trend which is centripetal to China.
"However, the establishment of the ASEAN Community, especially the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) slated for late 2015 is meeting a lot of obstacles, particularly due to development gaps among ASEAN countries," he added.
Vo Dai Luoc, former director of Vietnam's Institute of World Economics and Politics, told Xinhua that differences in economic development levels among ASEAN countries, like those between Singapore and Greater Mekong Sub-regional members such as Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar, will challenge the fulfillment of ASEAN commitments and the establishment of a unified market.
Due to the average low economic development level and competitiveness in some ASEAN countries, the regional bloc will take long time to develop a really strong and integrated economy similar to that of the European Union, Luoc said.
He said that in order to narrow development gaps among ASEAN state members, they should strengthen integration for development as well as cooperation with international organizations and the block's non-member countries and partners, including China, the United States and South Korea, adding that they should also provide mutual assistance, especially in the form of institution assistance, not in cash.
