Mekong Ministers meet in Hanoi
August 18, 2010 by TTRweekly Staff
Filed under Mekong Region
BANGKOK, 18 August 2010- Ministers from the six countries of the Greater Mekong Sub-region will meet in Hanoi later this week to develop a new 10-years plan for regional cooperation that includes tourism and improvements to transportation links.
The 16th Ministerial Conference, themed “GMS in the Next Decade: New Frontiers of Cooperation,” will open 20 August in Hanoi, Vietnam. Top of the agenda is the new 10-year (2012-2022) framework plan for regional cooperation.
According to the Asia Development Bank’s statement representatives from Cambodia, People’s Republic of China, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, along with officials from the ADB will endorse a plan to improve transport and trade facilitation.
The meeting is expected to endorse a strategy to develop regional rail links in the Mekong region, promote renewable energy supply and endorse a plan to improve transport and trade facilitation.
“In just one generation, Mekong nations have moved from conflict to economic cooperation, making dramatic progress in fighting poverty and fostering greater prosperity,” said, ADB’s Southeast Asia Department director general, Kunio Senga.
Mr Senga said the six countries should continue improving physical infrastructure, streamlining cross-border transactions and transport costs, strengthening the business environment, and ensuring adequate social and environmental protection in the sub-region.
Since 1992, the six GMS countries have participated in a comprehensive programme of economic cooperation covering transport, energy, telecommunications, trade facilitation, private investment and tourism.
