The Governments of Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam, and the United States of America (US), launched the Mekong-US Partnership and held its first Ministerial Meeting on 11 September 2020. The partnership builds on the US-Mekong cooperation developed through the Lower Mekong Initiative.
The 10th Mekong-Republic of Korea (RoK) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting was held on 28 September online, with the participation of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and the RoK. The meeting highlighted achievements in cooperation on infrastructure, information technology, education, agriculture, environmental protection, and water resources management, and adopted the action plan for 2021-2025.
The ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Information adopted the Joint Statement to Minimize the Negative Effects of COVID-19 to combat fake news and misinformation related to the pandemic, and enhance effective public communication through media and information cooperation.
This publication examines innovative finance mechanisms for government recovery strategies that can incentivize green infrastructure investment in developing Asia and support the fight against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
The COVID-19 global pandemic has put a heavy burden on the healthcare systems of developing countries in the Asia and Pacific region.
Top row, left to right: Dr. Danucha Pichayanan, Deputy Secretary General, Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council (Thailand); Mr. Liu Weihua, Deputy Director General, Department of International Economic and Financial Cooperation, Ministry of Finance (PRC); Mr. Alfredo Perdiguero, Director, SERC, ADB. Middle row: Mr. Than Aung Kyaw, Director General, FERD, Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations (Myanmar). Bottom row, left to right: Ms. Sisomboun Ounavong, Director General, Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Planning and Investment (Lao PDR); Dr. Pham Hoang Mai, Director General, Foreign Economic Relations Department, Ministry of Planning and Investment (Viet Nam); and H.E. Mr. Ros Seilava, Secretary of State, Ministry of Economy and Finance (Cambodia)
A GMS Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) was held on 11 September 2020 via web-based conferencing to review (i) proposed key GMS strategic planning documents and knowledge products, which includes GMS COVID-19 response initiatives and the new long-term strategy for the GMS program, and (ii) preparations for upcoming GMS events—the 11th Economic Corridors Forum (ECF-11), the 24th GMS Ministerial Conference (MC-24), and the 7th GMS Summit (Summit-7).
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) held a joint virtual dialogue on Labor Migration in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) on 8 September 2020, with the aim of strengthening cooperation through enhanced labor migration management.
With proactive planning and investment in health and other sectors—and the support of partners like ADB—the six countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) are meeting the challenge of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic while ensuring faster economic recovery.
This brief assesses the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on migrant workers, how reduced remittances will affect households and economies in Asia and the Pacific, and what policy makers can do to soften the blow.
Following the approval of the GMS Health Cooperation Strategy 2019–2023 by the Health Ministers of the six Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) countries in December 2019, the GMS Strategic Results Framework (SRF) 2019–2023 was endorsed by the GMS countries to provide guidance to the GMS Working Group on Health Cooperation, in collaboration with GMS countries, in monitoring and evaluating the Strategy’s effectiveness against its intended strategic outcomes by 2023.
Greater Mekong Subregion Secretariat
Regional Cooperation and Operations Coordination Division,
Southeast Asia Department, Asian Development Bank
Address: 6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City 1550, Metro Manila, Philippines
Telephone: +63 2 8632 4444 Fax: +63 2 8636 2226
