Publications

This issue of the Journal focuses on the seminal research undertaken by Social Research Institute of Chiang Mai University (SRI-CMU) on the question: How does community-based tourism (CBT) impact on poverty? Five research papers were selected from the SRI-CMU project. The overview article, Tourism: Blessings for All?, by Mingsarn Kaosa-ard, discusses the returns from tourism and how these returns are being shared from a national perspective. The benefits and the potential negative impacts of tourism are weighed.

About 70 participants attended the First Planning and Consultation Workshop on the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Energy Sector Strategy held in Bangkok, Thailand on 31 July 2006. The participants included senior government officials and policy makers from the GMS member economies, as well as representatives from academia, civil society, development partners, and the private sector.

The Third Meeting of the GMS Working Group on Agriculture was held in Hue City, Viet Nam on 15-17 February 2006.

The RPTCC-5 meeting was held to: (i) discuss and decide on the recommendations of the FG for priority RPTCC activities, and confirm the work plans for both the PWG and FG; (ii) take stock of various ongoing and planned ADB assistance to the GMS energy sector, and (iii) discuss and derive lessons from recent experiences in developing regional energy markets.

The Twelfth Meeting of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Working Group on Environment (WGE-12) was held in Bangkok, Thailand on 25-26 April 2006. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) of Thailand hosted the meeting in cooperation with the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The participants included delegations from Cambodia, the People's Republic of China (PRC), Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Observers/resource persons from MFLU, IGES, UNCRD, UNEP, SEI, SIDA, USAID, US EPA, The Netherlands Government, MRC, IUCN, WWF, and ADB also attended.

This publications summarizes the outcome of the 7th Meeting of the Subregional Telecommunications Forum of the Greater Mekong Subregion held in Guilin, People's Republic of China on 30-31 March 2006.

The transport sector is critical to economic cooperation among the countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). Soon after its inception in 1992, the GMS Economic Cooperation Program developed a GMS Transport Master Plan (1995) to encourage commercial exchange among the countries to spur development, generate employment opportunities, and assist GMS countries’ programs to reduce poverty. The Transport Master Plan served well to develop the economic corridors that are the foundation of the GMS Program.

The GMS Working Group on Environment 2nd Semi-Annual Meeting (WGE SAM-2) was held on 28 November 2007 via videoconference at ADB resident missions in Cambodia, PRC, Lao PDR, Thailand, Viet Nam and ADB Headquarters as the host. WGE representatives from Myanmar extended their apologized for not being able to attend the meeting. The participants list is attached as Appendix 1. It was recognized that it was the first time videoconferencing was tried for a WGE meeting and some basic meeting rules were established to enable a smooth discussion.