The Myanmar Government unveiled plans to develop a bigger and better connected special economic zone (SEZ) located in Mon State at a virtual Myanmar-Japan Investment Dialogue held on 29 July 2020. The strategically located SEZ will connect both the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean, and the Thilawa SEZ in Myanmar to Viet Nam’s Da Nang SEZ via the Greater Mekong Subregion’s East-West Economic Corridor. Plans for the new SEZ also include the construction of deep-sea port facilities. 

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $250 million loan to help the Government of Myanmar respond to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic by mitigating the impacts on people’s health, livelihoods, and the economy, while also ensuring that the poor and vulnerable benefit from the country’s economic recovery.

2020 began with Thailand implementing a ban on single-use plastic with the aim of reducing plastic waste by 30% this year.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has disrupted people’s health and well-being, led to widespread job loss, and created extraordinary uncertainty with long-lasting effects. As with climate change, the pandemic has disproportionately affected the most vulnerable people across the globe, including those in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS).  

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has proved how human health, animal health, plant health, and the health of the environment are all closely interconnected as “One Health”. “We have seen many diseases emerge over the years. Most of them originated from animal populations under conditions of severe environmental pressures,” said Mr. Ramesh Subramaniam, Director General, Southeast Asia Regional Department, speaking at the opening of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Working Group Meeting on Environment held via video conferencing on 23 June 2020.