The Third Meeting of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Working Group on Health Cooperation, jointly organized by the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), was held on 12–13 December in Bangkok, Thailand.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) today approved $2 million in new funding to support efforts to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus (nCoV).

The funds will supplement an ongoing regional technical assistance and strengthen response capacity in Cambodia, the People's Republic of China, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam.

Orlathai Ferchanthala dreams of turning her family’s subsistence farm into a commercial business growing rice and a range of cash crops, raising livestock, and outfitted with a modern irrigation system.

“The soil here is suitable for growing various crops, and the grass is perfect for raising cattle,” said Ferchanthala, a 35-year-old mother of three living in a rural community in southern Vientiane. “We need irrigation schemes to bring water into our farming areas in the dry season and proper dikes to protect us from floods in the rainy season.”

A $37.8 million loan deal between the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and TTC Energy Development Investment Joint Stock Company (TTC Energy) will provide TTC Energy with long-term financing to develop and operate a 50-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic solar power plant. The solar power plant and its associated facilities will be built in Tay Ninh Province in Viet Nam, and serve the electricity demand of residents and businesses of Ho Chi Minh City and its surrounding areas. This will help reduce 29,760 tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2020. 

Tests have been completed on four electricity generators that will link 195 megawatts (MW) of electricity from Don Sahong Dam in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) to Cambodia’s national grid.

The Secretariat of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Working Group on Health Cooperation is closely monitoring the situation surrounding the novel (new) coronavirus (2019-nCoV). A growing number of countries have reported confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV. 

Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) and Viet Nam plan to upgrade two local border crossing points to international border crossings this year. The plan was announced during the 29th annual border meeting of the two neighboring countries on 26 December 2019 in Ha Noi, Viet Nam. 

The Dak Ta-Ok (Lao PDR)–Nam Giang (Viet Nam) between Xekong (Lao PDR) and Quang Nam (Viet Nam) provinces will be the first international crossing point in Xekong. The neighboring countries plan to open this upgraded international border crossing in the first quarter of 2020.

The Third Meeting of the GMS Working Group on Health Cooperation (WGHC-3) was held on 12–13 December 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand. WGHC-3 was co-organized by the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) of Thailand and the ADB.

A study looks at the costs of overloading and how improved policies and enforcement can give an economic boost to Mekong countries.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $3,000,000 technical assistance to support the implementation of initiatives to accelerate trade and cross-border investment between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of Cambodia, Thailand, Viet Nam—member countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) program—and India. This ADB-administered technical assistance is financed by the United Kingdom Fund for Asia Regional Trade and Connectivity under the Regional Cooperation and Integration Financing Partnership Facility.