The 8th Ministerial Meeting of the ASEAN-Mekong Basin Development Cooperation (AMBDC) was held Saturday with discussions focusing on the work progress of the trans-Asia railway.

Ministers reviewed the progress of the activities under the Working Group on the Singapore-Kunming Rail Link (SKRL), which will connect Singapore up to Kunming, China, via Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand and other Mekong Basin Countries.

For the project, some 5.4 million U.S. dollars has been secured as grants and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided another 40 million U.S. dollars in the form of soft loans for Cambodia in 2006, said a joint media statement issued after the meeting.

Ministers also noted that the 8th Special Working Meeting on SKRL will be held this November in Kunming.

During the meeting, ministers also exchanged views on enhancing the effectiveness of the AMBDC Framework and agreed to recommend to the 12th ASEAN Summit two proposals suggested by Malaysia.

They agreed that the AMBDC Ministerial Meeting should be placed under the ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting process and the membership of the core group should be opened to other interested parties and international organizations.

"The decision to place AMBDC under the ASEAN Economic Minister process is to synchronize the economic integration activities, and to maximize on the limited resources available," said the joint media statement.

All the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) sent delegates for the half-day meeting, which was chaired by Myanmar Minister for National Planning and Economic Development U Soe Tha.

Source: Xinhua