Facilitating Green Pro-Poor Value Chains in the GMS: Summary of Proceedings

The knowledge event, Facilitating Green Pro-Poor Value Chains in the Greater Mekong Subregion, was held in Xiengkhouang, Lao People's Democratic Republic on 2 April 2013, in conjunction with the 10th Meeting of the GMS Working on Agriculture (WGA-10) and the 19th Annual Meeting of the GMS Working Group on Environment (WGE-19).

Funded through the Asian Development Bank's Core Agriculture Support Program and Core Environment Program, the event aimed to generate discussion on the topic of green, pro-poor value chain development within the context of the agriculture and ecosystem services, and to provide an overview of the opportunities and barriers related to the development of green and inclusive value chains. It featured a keynote presentation, followed by technical presentations and panel discussions highlighting case studies from the region.

A separate session was devoted to presentations of current programs and discussions to identify potential areas of collaboration between the GMS working groups on agriculture and environment (WGA and WGE).

Participants from the six GMS countries (Cambodia, the People's Republic of China, the Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam); and representatives from the private sector and development partners, including ADB, attended the event. It was organized by the GMS Environment Operations Center, the WGA and GMS Program secretariats, and Lao PDR's Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.