On December 15, 2023, Mr. Wanchat Suwannakitti, Deputy Secretary-General of the National Economic and Social Development Council, as the representative of the Minister for the Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Program (GMS), led the Thai delegation to participate in the 26th GMS Ministerial Conference, which was held under the theme “Building a Strong and Cohesive GMS Community with a Shared Future towards Resilient Economic Development” in Naypyidaw, Republic of the Union of Myanmar, with Dr. Kan Zaw, Minister of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, serving as the conference chair Ministers, senior officials, and development partners also participated in the conference.
The GMS Ministers jointly acknowledged important operational achievements in various areas, including the study results on digital transformation approaches in the GMS subregion and approaches to promoting private sector and local participation, progress in the operations of the GMS Business Council in driving projects under the GMS Program, and also endorsed the draft concept proposal for developing the Mekong Subregion Innovation Strategy for Development 2030, which will be developed into a comprehensive innovation strategy to be presented to the next GMS Leaders’ Summit in 2024.
On this occasion, Thailand emphasized the importance of key sectoral cooperation, including the expansion of the Cross-Border Transport Facilitation Agreement in the Greater Mekong Subregion (CBTA), which includes adding routes and extending project duration, building regional energy security through promoting short-term energy markets, renewable energy, and improving energy efficiency, jointly developing and utilizing innovation to drive the GMS economy, starting with key economic sectors including agriculture and high-value manufacturing that is environmentally friendly and promotes sustainable development, as well as capacity development to address new challenges such as climate change and digital transformation in key sectors of the GMS subregion, while supporting the concept of increasing the role of stakeholders from all sectors in the area to jointly design and drive various projects under the GMS Program to ensure sustainable, efficient operations that respond to situations and needs in different contexts of each area, utilizing existing mechanisms to maximum benefit to accelerate the implementation of unified subregional development projects.
The 26th GMS Ministerial Conference serves as an important forum for promoting cooperation with neighboring countries to jointly address common subregional issues, particularly in digital economic transformation and climate change adaptation, under the implementation of projects under the GMS Program to ensure timely, efficient, open, comprehensive, and sustainable operations, which aligns with the implementation of master plans under Thailand’s National Strategy on foreign affairs and the 13th National Economic and Social Development Plan, particularly in elevating Thailand as a regional logistics hub and promoting the transition to a digital economy based on utilizing innovation for sustainable development.
News: Strategy and International Cooperation Coordination Division
