GMS Contents

Photo shows the participants of this year's regional training program together with the training team. Photo credit: ADB.

Honing Project Management Skills to Achieve Development Goals

Thirty-nine government officials and specialists joined this year’s Regional Training in Project Management organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Bangkok from 5 to 9 May. The training program is designed to support the Brunei Darussalam–Indonesia–Malaysia–Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), Indonesia–Malaysia–Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT), and the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) in project planning and implementation. It fosters a results-based project management approach that aligns projects to sector strategies.

Construction of High Speed Kunming-Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong Railway to Begin

Viet Nam is set to begin construction of a new 417-kilometer railway line connecting the northern port city of Haiphong to Kunming, People’s Republic of China (PRC), via Hanoi and Lao Cai Province. The initiative, with an estimated investment of about US$11 billion, aims to bolster trade and tourism between the two countries by enhancing connectivity and facilitating smoother transportation of goods and people.



The Friendship bridge built with Australian funding and completed and opened in 1994, crossing the Mekong River and connecting Thailand to Laos. Photo by Jim Holmes / AusAID via Flickr. (CC BY 2.0)

Fifth Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge to Provide Shortest Route between Lao PDR, Thailand, and Viet Nam

The fifth friendship bridge between the Lao People‘s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) and Thailand is set to further enhance Lao PDR’s connectivity with its neighbors in the Greater Mekong Subregion. It will link Borikhamxay province (Lao PDR) to Bueng Kan province (Thailand), becoming a vital road link between Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. Spanning over 150km, it promises to be the shortest connecting link between the three countries and opens another regional trade and transit route. 

Workers take a ride on a truck after their shift at a factory in Cambodia. Photo by ADB.

$82 Million ADB Loan to Improve Cambodian Roads, Support GMS Economic Corridors

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved an $82 million loan to improve about 48 kilometers of national and provincial roads in Prey Veng and Kandal to boost economic development along the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Southern Economic Corridor.

Lao PDR’s Se Kong, Viet Nam’s Quang Nam Provinces Jointly Launch the Dakta Ok–Nam Giang Border Gates

The Governments of Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Viet Nam inaugurated the Dakta Ok (Se Kong, Lao PDR) – Nam Giang (Quang Nam, Viet Nam) border gates on 14 August 2021, which were upgraded to international status this year. This new international cross-border point is expected to further boost bilateral trade, investment, and tourism, and promote opportunities for cooperation between Viet Nam’s central key economic zone and Lao PDR’s south-central region, as well as Thailand’s southeast region.

Viet Nam Seeks Support from GZAR, PRC, to Facilitate Agri Export

Mr. Nguyen Hong Dien, Viet Nam’s Minister of Industry and Trade, requested support from Mr. Lu Xinshe, Party Secretary of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China (GZAR, PRC), to facilitate cross-border trade between Viet Nam and the PRC by (i) upgrading border gates, (ii) restoring customs services at sealed off border gates, and (iii) extending the operating hours of customs clearance services at border gates, border crossings, and markets.

Meeting photo via Viet Nam Plus

Second Mekong-U.S. Partnership Ministerial Meeting Underscores U.S. Commitment to the Subregion

The second Mekong-U.S. Partnership Ministerial Meeting held on 2 August 2021 unveiled four flagship projects under the Mekong-U.S. Partnership, and noted the 8.5 million vaccine doses and over $58 million in U.S. COVID-19 assistance to the Mekong subregion countries.

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