HA NOI — Ministers of the Greater Mekong Sub-region yesterday endorsed a plan of action for improved transport and trade facilitation in the region, which is expected to help bolster economic growth in the wake of the global financial crisis.
At a meeting which took place in Ha Noi over the last two days, the ministers discussed the plan to connect regional rail lines and approved, together with other strategies, roadmaps and action programmes that will determine a new generation of co-operative undertakings in the region's various priority sectors and areas.
The rail link, which is expected to be operational by 2020, will be built largely on the existing lines or those already under construction,Vice President of the Manila-based Asia Development Bank (ADB) Lawrence Greenwood told reporters in a press conference yesterday.
The plan cites four possible ways of connecting the railways, but it indicates the most viable route would stretch from Bangkok to Phnom Penh, then HCM City and Ha Noi, and finally up to Nanning and Kunming.
After 18 years of co-operation, the regional countries are continuing their efforts to boost their future economies, especially in the coming decade.
"Co-operation of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) has been going for 18 years and the member countries have taken advantage of opportunities during the integration into the world economy to gain successes," Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc told the meeting, which discussed broad directions for the long-term GMS strategic framework covering the next 10 years (2012-22).
Phuc's remarks were echoed by Director General of the ADB Southeast Asia Department Kunio Senga.
"In just one generation, Mekong nations have moved from conflict to economic co-operation, making dramatic progress in fighting poverty and fostering greater prosperity."
Viet Nam last hosted a GMS ministerial meeting 16 years ago, and "since then, we have seen tremendous progress and rapid development in the GMS economies", said Greenwood.
Since 1992, the six countries of the GMS – Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam - have participated in a comprehensive programme of economic co-operation covering many fields including transport, energy, human resource development, environment and natural resources management, and agriculture with the support of the ADB and other development partners.
Expanding the interconnection of economies of the GMS countries is seen to be a means of increasing overall economic growth and improving regional stability. The GMS Programme has helped generate significant benefits for the nations that share the Mekong River. Economic opportunities and growth have dramatically expanded and poverty rates have been cut in half.
These developments, however, could also result in several negative outcomes.
Phuc pointed out four challenges the region has to overcome to fulfil its targets.
"One is the poor development in the majority of the GMS countries, which still have high poverty rates and low development indices."
The other negative outcome, said Phuc, was the lack of funds for a large number of in-depth and large-scale GMS co-operation projects and programmes. The development gap among the GMS countries was challenging to their co-operation strategies, said Phuc.
Another obstacle for the regional co-operation was the difference in legislation which was a big challenge for ensuring a stable political environment and a sustainable macro-economy in the region, said the minister.
"To overcome the challenges that have arisen during the regional co-operation, the GMS countries are co-ordinating and adjusting their own macro-co-operation policies," said Phuc.
New and pressing issues that had grown in importance included climate change and the environment, food security and energy sufficiency, said Greenwood. "It is also critical to mitigate the social and environmental risks that might arise from greater connectivity."
The meeting took stock of the medium term Vientiane Plan of Action for GMS Development for the 2008-12 period, which also reflects the overarching objective of enhanced and sustainable competitiveness.
For the first time, the GMS ministers used a meeting to discuss proper and effective uses of the Mekong River water resources.
"Managing and using the water sources properly and effectively is an important part of the regional co-operation process," said Phuc in the post-meeting press conference. "We will set up a working group to supervise the carry-out of a programme for this purpose."
The Mekong begins in the Tibetan Plateau, flows through China, along the north-eastern border of Myanmar, and then marks the Thai-Lao frontier before pouring into the heart of Cambodia and ending at the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta in southern Viet Nam. More than 300 million people live in the area surrounding the Mekong.
The ministers are expected to call on their respective governments to enhance the implementation of the GMS Core Environment Programme, which will strongly integrate the climate change agenda with biodiversity conservation, poverty reduction, capacity building and food security/rural issues in GMS environmental management. —VNS
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