Twenty-five years of cooperation under the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Program have witnessed the evolving cooperation and partnership among the six countries that share the Mekong River. In 1992, Cambodia, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam established the GMS Economic Cooperation Program and requested the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for support. It was not until 2002 that the Building on Success: A Strategic Framework for the Next Ten Years of the Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Program (GMS SF-I) was adopted covering the period 2002–2012. It was succeeded by the Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Program Strategic Framework 2012–2022 (GMS SF-II), for which a midterm review (MTR) has been conducted. This Ha Noi Action Plan 2018–2022 (HAP) reflects the GMS Program’s agenda for the remaining 5 years of GMS SF-II based on the findings of the MTR, as well as the new thrusts and operational priorities of sector strategies. It builds on past achievements and lessons learned, and charts the way forward to address the emerging development challenges through regional cooperation.
Policy Recommendations for Narrowing the Development Gap in ASEAN
As the newer members of ASEAN, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam (CLMV) consider deeper regional economic integration as a necessary and unavoidable process that will ultimately benefit them but will also present challenges. In this context, the key question for the CLMV countries is how they can catch up with the more advanced economies in the region given their limited resources and the limitations on their knowledge and practical experience. While advocating rapid and sustainable development in the longer term, the CLMV countries need to address several challenges inherent in their socio economic situation that may be magnified as ASEAN integration deepens. On the one hand, the CLMV countries are in the early stages of development and still experience a sizeable development gap with respect to ASEAN-6.2 On the other hand, the CLMV countries face a severe lack of institutional and financial capacity to properly address the impacts of adverse shocks. Finally, social structures with sizeable proportions of people living in or near poverty or in disadvantaged areas give rise to much concern over the sustainability of social stability, especially in the presence of shocks. In that context, ensuring both food security and effective social safety nets aimed at more sustainable development plays a critical role in ensuring more viable participation in the regional economic integration process.
The 5th CLMV Regional Conference focused on challenges related to the complexity of SDG 12 implementation in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Viet Nam and the Philippines. The conference took place on 26-27 March 2019 in Luang Prabang, Lao PDR. The event was co-organised by the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) and the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) with the cooperation of the Ministry of Planning of Lao PDR as a local host. This conference was the fifth regional event on the implementation of SDGs and was jointly delivered by ASEF, HSF and the governments of CLMV countries, under the Asia-Europe Environment Forum (ENV forum)
This report describes the biomonitoring survey conducted in the dry season of 2017 in the Lower Mekong Basin which contributes to the evaluation of the overall ecological health of the river. The objectives of the report are to (i) describe the biological indicator groups sampled during 2017; (ii) use this information to derive biological indicators for the sites examined in 2017; and (iii) use biometric indicators to evaluate these sites.
The strategy has been developed on the basis of the Integrated Water Resources Management-based Basin Development Strategy for the Lower Mekong Basin 2016-2020 in close collaboration with the four MRC Member Countries (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam). The five-year strategy focuses on inland capture fisheries, based on the national management and development policies, strategies and plans of Member Countries.
This report, presented through visuals and stories, depicts the efforts by the MRC over six years to transform dialogue to cooperation at the cross-boundary level. It provides accounts on how the Commission, through its Mekong Integrated Water Resources Management Project, has strengthened integrated water resources management in the lower Mekong basin via five different projects.