ADB is one of Cambodia's largest sources of official development assistance, with average annual lending of $329.8 million from 2016-2021. The bank's support is aligned with the Cambodia's National Strategic Development Plan 2019-2023.

This report compares the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) with other free trade agreements and suggests how policy makers can promote its successful implementation.

The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has opened seven highway ports and one railway port for cross-border cargo with normalized customs clearance processes. Statistics from the GZAR’s Department of Commerce reported that 3,344 vehicles entered and exited through Guangxi’s border highway ports during the May Day holiday in 2022. The May Day holiday is one of the peak travel times in the country.   

Thailand will accelerate its railway connectivity, in line with the opening of the railway link between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) in December 2021.  

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.

Two trucks were flagged off at the launch of cross-border freight transport between Kunming in Yunnan Province, People’s Republic of China (PRC), and Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), on 25 August. The Vientiane-bound truck from PRC carried around 3 million CNY (around $464,000) worth of machinery, equipment, and electronic appliances, while the truck bound for Kunming carried Laotian goods. Both trucks will pass through the Bohan (PRC)-Boten (Lao PDR) border checkpoint.

Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce’s Trade Policy and Strategy Office (TPSO) organized the CLMVT+ Forum 2021 on 24-26 August. The forum highlighted the TPSO study emphasizing the importance of achieving an even economic recovery in the GMS.

Trade promotion agencies of Cambodia, India, Thailand, and Viet Nam held an event promoting cross-border trade connectivity between India and countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) on 19 August. Representatives from each country gave briefings on their business environment and exchanged experiences in facilitating trade and investment cooperation. Noting challenges caused by COVID-19, they urged governments to take measures to help their small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) move beyond national borders and expand markets.

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.