MANILA, PHILIPPINES (10 December 2014)– The Asian Development Bank has approved a loan of $200 million to improve villagers’ access to regional roads in Yunnan Province, the People’s Republic of China, in a project that will alleviate poverty and promote regional trade.

The Eighteenth Meeting of the Subregional Transport Forum (STF-18) was held in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam. The Forum was jointly organized by the Ministry of Transport (MOT) of Viet Nam and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The Nineteenth Meeting of the Subregional Transport Forum (STF-19) was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The 34th Meeting of the GMS Tourism Working Group (TWG-34) was held in Luang Prabang, Lao PDR, on 18 November 2014, attended by representatives of the National Tourism Organizations (NTOs) of the six GMS countries (Cambodia, PRC, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam), the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Representatives of development partners including Swisscontact, GIZ and Luxembourg Development Cooperation also attended.

The 17th Meeting of the Regional Power Trade Coordination Committee (RPTCC-17) was held to (i) discuss the progress on the bids for the venue for the headquarters of the Regional Power Coordination Center (RPCC) which will serve as a permanent institution to enhance regional power trade and implement regional power interconnection in the GMS; (ii) provide updates on the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries’ power development plans focusing on cross-border projects; (iii) discuss the assistance of development partners to support RPTCC activities; (iv) consider the draft report on the GMS

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

The joint declaration, entitled "Committed to Inclusive and Sustainable Development in the GMS," was issued at the 5th Greater Mekong Subregion Summit of Leaders in Bangkok, Thailand on 19-20 December 2014. 

BANGKOK, THAILAND (20 December 2014) — The President of the Asian Development Bank, Takehiko Nakao, completed a 2-day visit to Bangkok today, where he participated in the 5th Leaders’ Summit of the Greater Mekong Subregion and met top officials of the host country to discuss ADB’s deepening partnership with Thailand.