Publications

The Third Meeting of the Regional Power Trade Coordination Committee (RPTCC-3) was held in Vientiane, Lao PDR on 7-8 April. The meeting was co-organized by the Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts (MIH) of Lao PDR and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The RPTCC-3 meeting discussed the following:

The Special Meeting of the Trade Facilitation Working Group (TWFG) was held at ADB Headquarters, Manila, Philippines on 25-26 April 2005. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Robert Boumphrey, Director of the Governance, Finance and Trade Division of ADB's Mekong Department. Seventeen officials from the commerce, trade, customs, immigration and quarantine agencies of the six GMS countries as well as ADB staff participated in the Meeting.

These are the summary of proceedings from the 11th Meeting of the Subregional Working Group on Environment (WGE-11) held in Siem Reap, Cambodia on 15-16 March 2005,

The Second Meeting of the Working Group on Agriculture was held in Chiang Mai, Thailand on 22-23 March 2004. 

In the last meeting (RPTCC-4) held in Yangon, the RPTCC members deliberated on the key institutional arrangements for the stage 1 of the Regional Power Trade Operating Agreement (RPTOA), particularly on the establishment of the Focal Group (FG), its TOR and capacity building plan. Since then the FG and the Planning Working Group (PWG) have been established, and their meetings held. The RPTCC-4 meeting also discussed practices/ experiences in regional power trade in other regions to serve as initial lessons in design of power market arrangements.

The Focal Group was established with the holding of the its first meeting (FG-1) in Hanoi in January 2006. The earlier FG-1 meeting agreed on the appointment of the authorities (chair and co-chair), the setting up of communication channels/ procedures, prioritization of activities, and the establishment of the Planning Working Group (PWG). PRC was appointed chair for the next two years, with ADB as co-chair. The FG-2 meeting was co-organized by the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy (MIME) of Cambodia and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The establishment of the Focal Group (FG) was agreed during the RPTCC-4 meeting held in Yangon in September 2005, to coordinate the implementation of the RPTCC activities in each GMS country. The FG was the first institution created for the implementation of the Regional Power Trade Operating Agreement (PTOA). The list of FG members was recently finalized based on nominations submitted by the GMS countries. The FG-1 meeting was attended by FG members nominated by the six GMS member countries, as well as by representatives of AFD, Soluziona, World Bank and ADB.

Collaborative infrastructure projects are undertaken in the Greater Mekong Subregion because, in theory, they help to promote greater trade and investment flows among neighboring countries.

This issue of the Journal focuses on the seminal research undertaken by Social Research Institute of Chiang Mai University (SRI-CMU) on the question: How does community-based tourism (CBT) impact on poverty? Five research papers were selected from the SRI-CMU project. The overview article, Tourism: Blessings for All?, by Mingsarn Kaosa-ard, discusses the returns from tourism and how these returns are being shared from a national perspective. The benefits and the potential negative impacts of tourism are weighed.