The Greater Mekong Subregion is working to improve the quality of life and economic vibrancy of its cities and towns by using global best practices in urban development.
The Urban Development Working Group oversees urban development and economic zones as new areas of cooperation in the subregion.
By 2050, the Greater Mekong Subregion is expected to be at least 50% urbanized. This will bring vast changes to the economies of the subregion. What was once a primarily agricultural area is transforming into a place where cities and towns are the main drivers of economic growth. Careful planning is needed to balance urban growth with environmental protection and economic equity so that healthy cities can be enjoyed by all residents.
The Greater Mekong Subregion is working to improve the quality of life and economic vibrancy of its cities through the development of national strategies and projects that incorporate global best practices into the subregion’s urban development. This work has included the first and second Corridor Towns Development Project, which is developing competitive and environmentally friendly cities along vital economic arteries in the subregion. Cross-border economic zones are also being developed.
The COVID-19 pandemic inevitably will leave its mark on cities, physically and socially, echoing for generations to come. This is already evident in terms of urban life. The GMS Program will focus on these effects with measures to respond to current and future crises. The GMS Economic Cooperation Program Strategic Framework 2030 (GMS-2030) will encourage a holistic approach to the future planning of cities so that they are green, smart, competitive, resilient, safe, and inclusive. It will also promote linkages between cities to develop new urban clusters and maximize economies of agglomeration, develop cities in border areas, create linkages with special economic and industrial zones, and improve waste management and pollution in cities located close to GMS rivers and seas. GMS-2030 was endorsed and adopted at the 7th GMS Summit of Leaders in September 2021. It aims to provide a new setting for the development of this subregion for the next decade.
Related
• Urban Development in the Greater Mekong Subregion
• Greater Mekong Subregion Urban Development Strategic Framework
• Second Greater Mekong Subregion Corridor Towns Development Project
• Urban Development Working Group
Focal Persons at the Asian Development Bank
Alan Baird
Water and Urban Development Sector Office Sectors Group
Hinako Maruyama
Water and Urban Development Sector Office Sectors Group
Other Concerned Staff & Consultants
Antonio Ressano
Regional Cooperation and Integration Unit
Southeast Asia Department
Alma Canarejo
Regional Cooperation and Integration Unit
Southeast Asia Department/GMS Secretariat
Send inquiries to GMS Secretariat.
The Greater Mekong Subregion Urban Development Strategic Framework, 2012–2022, sets out a broad framework to encourage and facilitate a coordinated approach to the development of urban areas throughout the GMS.
The GMS ministers called for a Transport and Trade Facilitation Action Program to enhance the cross-border flow of goods and people, and for a coordinated approach to developing urban areas throughout the region. A vendor selling different products in a market in Thailand. Photo: ADB.
KUNMING, PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (11 June 2015) – Government ministers and senior officials attending the Greater Mekong Subregion Seventh Economic Corridors Forum today agreed on measures to promote the development of economic corridors, facilitate cross-border transport and trade, and enhance cooperation and private sector participation.
KUNMING, PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (10 June 2015) – Ministers and senior officials from the six Greater Mekong Subregion countries and the Vice-President of the Asian Development Bank will convene tomorrow at the 7th GMS Economic Corridors Forum to discuss how to further develop economic corridors, facilitate cross-border transport and trade, and enhance cooperation and private sector participation – including the development of Special Economic Zones.
The Third Meeting of the GMS Task Force on Urban Development in Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) from 11–12 September 2014 was held to (i) review the draft GMS Urban Development Strategy1 and Implementation Plan; (ii) discuss the GMS Regional Investment Framework (RIF) Implementation Plan, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system, and the results of the GMS Sixth Economic Corridors Forum (ECF-6) in Ha Noi, Viet Nam (8 August 2014) on Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Cross Border Economic Zones (CBEZs); and (iii) agree on the way forward of the GMS Urban Development S
(Left to Right) Sok Chenda Sophea, Minister Attached to the Prime Minister, Secretary General Council for Development of Cambodia; Hong Xiao Yong, PRC Ambassador to Viet Nam; Somchith Inthamith, Vice Minister, Ministry of Planning, Lao PDR; Nguyen Chi Dung, Vice Minister, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Viet Nam; Lei Lei Thein, Deputy Minister, Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development, Myanmar; Porametee Vimolsiri, Deputy Secretary General, National Economic and Social Development Board, Thailand; and Bindu Lohani, Vice-President, Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, ADB. Photo: ADB.
HA NOI, VIET NAM (8 August 2014) – The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) needs to ensure that economic corridors yield benefits in terms of trade, investment, and jobs, participants at the 6th GMS Economic Corridors Forum (ECF) heard today.
The Second Meeting of the Urban Development Task Force held in Kunming City from 14–15 November 2013 was undertaken with the objective of further strengthening regional cooperation in the urban development sector and stimulating integration and competitiveness of GMS corridor towns and border areas.
The first meeting of the GMS Urban Development Task Force was held on 12 July 2013 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The meeting objective was to operationalize the recommendation of the 18th GMS Ministerial Meeting regarding the establishment of the GMS Task Force on Urban Development by: reviewing, refining and finalizing the Terms of reference of the Urban Task Force; and developing its Work Plan. (The meeting agenda is Appendix 1). The first meeting of the Urban TF was chaired by H.E.
MANILA, PHILIPPINES (12 December 2012) - The next phase of Greater Mekong Subregion investments should expand the program into new areas such as multisector investments towards urban development, connecting remote areas with growth centers, and extending existing corridors into Myanmar, ministers attending the 18th GMS Ministerial Conference in Nanning, People's Republic of China said today in a joint statement.
MANDALAY, MYANMAR (28 June 2012) - Ministers and senior government officials from the six Greater Mekong Subregion countries met today to discuss ways of expanding economic corridors to better facilitate the movement of people and products around the subregion.
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA (4 August 2011) - Countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) are poised to move the GMS Economic Cooperation Program into a second generation of initiatives over the next 10 years.
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
