CHIANG MAI, THAILAND (1 February 2018) — Environment ministers from the six countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion endorsed a 5-year environment agenda that includes more than $540 million worth of priority projects to spur green investments and increase environmental cooperation to help the subregion achieve sustainable growth.

This road map for expanded cooperation in the energy sector in the Greater Mekong Subregion takes into account GMS Strategic Framework 2002-2012 and the need for improved energy security, better utilization of energy resources, and mutually beneficial energy trade, to meet national and regional energy needs in a sustainable manner.

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. 

At the 7th Leaders’ Summit in 2021, the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) leaders approved the Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Strategic Framework 2030 (GMS 2030) and mandated the GMS Program to become an open platform promoting enhanced participation by development partners, local governments, academia, and civil society.

This study provides analysis and recommendations for the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries—Cambodia, the People’s Republic of China (PRC, specifically Yunnan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region), the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam—to move forward and realize its development ambitions by taking advantage of the opportunities that regional cooperation offers to its members.

This publication identifies bottlenecks to regional power trading in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) and proposes solutions to overcome them.

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.

A pilot project has developed night markets in selected border towns in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) to take advantage of the economic opportunities opened by infrastructure projects in the area.

This publication presents the integration of a strategic environmental assessment in the revised Power Development Plan VII of Viet Nam.

Blessed with rich natural resources and a strategic location at the heart of the Greater Mekong Subregion, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic has emerged from decades of turmoil and isolation to become one of the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia since 2011.