H.E. Mr. Anuson Chinvanno, Ambassador of Thailand to Vietnam, led a delegation of officials from Team Thailand offices in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Royal Thai Embassy in Vientiane and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, as well as members of the press, for a field trip to study the economic and tourism potential of the transportation by land via Route No. 7 between 26 - 30 January 2013. The field trip, which covers five main cities in Vietnam and Laos PDR, namely Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Vinh, Phonsavan and Luang Prabang, was aimed at acquainting the representatives from relevant Thai authorities with the potential benefits of trade and tourism in the two neighboring countries, as well as to further the initiative agreed by the Government of Thailand and Vietnam during the 2nd Joint Cabinet Meeting to encourage the use of non-EWEC land transportation routes and other routes under the GMS Cross-Border Transportation Facilitation Agreement (CBTA) and other transportation agreements at bilateral and ASEAN levels.