On May 17, 2024, Mr. Wanchat Suwankitti, Deputy Secretary-General of the National Economic and Social Development Council, attended the Senior Officials’ Meeting of the Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Program (GMS) as the representative of Thailand in Yuxi City, Yunnan Province, People’s Republic of China. The meeting aimed to discuss preparations for the 8th GMS Leaders’ Summit and the latest progress of the GMS Program. Mr. Liang Jianjun, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Asian Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, and Mr. Alfredo Perdiguero, Director of the Regional Cooperation and Integration Division for Southeast Asia from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), co-chaired the meeting. Senior officials and representatives from all six GMS member countries participated in the meeting, with the following key points:
The meeting was informed that the People’s Republic of China is scheduled to host the 8th GMS Leaders’ Summit in Yunnan Province in November 2024. The participants also discussed and provided comments on the draft GMS Innovation Strategy for Development 2030, which will be presented for approval at the Leaders’ Summit later this year. The Thai representative suggested that the draft strategy should include an analysis of the key principles based on academic foundations, clearly specify strategies leading to concrete sectoral implementation, and emphasize the importance of intellectual property protection in innovation development under the proposed strategy.
Additionally, the GMS Senior Officials from all six countries approved in principle the draft documents to be presented at the Leaders’ Summit, including: 1) Framework for Strengthening Local Governments’ Engagement, on which the Thai representative suggested clarifying the roles and linkages between the Economic Corridor Forum and the Governors’ Forum mechanisms; and 2) GMS Gender Strategy Implementation Plan 2025-2030. They also provided comments on three other draft documents currently being prepared for presentation at the Leaders’ Summit: Action Plan on Digitalization for the GMS, Framework paper for private sector participation in the GMS Program, and GMS Sector Strategies for seven working groups, including agriculture, energy, environment, health, tourism, transport, and urban development.
Furthermore, the meeting was updated on the recent progress of the GMS Program and future plans, such as the Regional Investment Framework 2026 (RIF 2026), which has already begun implementation and is scheduled for official publication after this meeting; the Regional Investment Framework 2027 (RIF 2027), which is currently gathering information from member countries and will be presented at the Leaders’ Summit in November 2024; the study on enhancing the efficiency of Special Economic Zones and Border Economic Zones in the Greater Mekong Subregion, with a preliminary study completed and field data collection planned at the Thai-Cambodian border SEZ area from May 20-30, 2024; the study on establishing a GMS Knowledge Network; the implementation of the Cross-Border Transport Facilitation Agreement (CBTA) Early Harvest stage, which is currently expediting member countries to compile and submit authorized vehicle registration data to the GMS Secretariat, with expectations to resume cross-border transportation in June 2024; and summary reports on the activities of GMS working groups in the agriculture, environment, and tourism sectors.
The GMS Senior Officials’ Meeting is scheduled to convene next in July 2024 via videoconference to consider and approve the Action Plan on Digitalization for the GMS and the Framework for Private Sector Participation. Additionally, a special session is planned for August 21, 2024, in Jakarta, Republic of Indonesia, to discuss in detail the preparations for the 8th GMS Leaders’ Summit and review the final draft of the GMS Innovation Strategy for Development 2030. Moreover, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has proposed that the focal points from each member country participate in a site survey for the Leaders’ Summit venue in Yunnan Province, People’s Republic of China, between September and October 2024. Further details will be provided in due course.
International Strategy and Cooperation Division
Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council
May 17, 2024