Transport

Developing transport infrastructure in tandem with policies and procedures for crossing borders and promoting trade has been central to efforts to interconnect the Greater Mekong Subregion countries.

The Subregional Transport Forum reviews, coordinates and monitors regional transport plans and projects of GMS member countries.

Transport lies at the heart of Greater Mekong Subregion cooperation. The development of physical infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, in tandem with policies and procedures for crossing borders and developing trade along key routes, has been central to efforts to forge a truly interconnected subregion.

Physically connecting the countries of the subregion was one of the first initiatives of the GMS program when it was founded in 1992. The countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion have acknowledged that in order to cooperate in trade, tourism, and investment, and to realize the other benefits of the region, they must expand the road links and border crossings that connect them.

This is being done through the development of “economic corridors,” which are geographic areas, often along major highways, where a variety of development projects are undertaken to maximize their development benefits. This might include projects involving infrastructure, laws and regulations, market development, and the improvement of urban centers. Economic corridors bring a wide range of benefits, far beyond what single projects deliver in terms of development impact.

The three main GMS corridors—the East–West, North–South and Southern economic corridors—have improved the lives of millions of people in the Greater Mekong Subregion. These corridors are being enhanced with secondary roads that extend their benefits to nearby communities most in need, and other roads that link to strategic seaports in the subregion. The regulatory details of how people and goods can best move along these corridors are also currently being worked out.

The GMS Economic Cooperation Program Strategic Framework 2030 (GMS-2030) will prioritize intermodal approaches, facilitate cross-border transport, and seek improvement in logistics, asset management, and road safety. Given the rise in GMS economic density, and with respect to its environmental considerations, GMS-2030 aims to ensure the development of railway networks; sea, river, and dry ports; and inland waterways. Investments in airports to improve connections with the rest of Asia and the world will be essential, as will the development of secondary roads that will link to main corridors to expand the benefits to poorer communities. An effort will be made to integrate urban transport with the GMS transport network. GMS-2030 was endorsed and adopted at the 7th GMS Summit of Leaders in September 2021. It aims to provide a new setting for the development of this subregion for the next decade.

Related

GMS Transport Sector Strategy 2030

GMS Transport Strategy 2006–2015

Subregional Transport Forum


Focal Persons at the Asian Development Bank

  • Yasushi Tanaka
    Principal Transport Specialist
    Sectors Group

  • Dong Kyu Lee
    Director
    SG-TRA

  • Hiraoki Yamaguchi
    Senior Director
    SG-TRA

Other Concerned Staff & Consultants

  • Antonio Ressano
    Regional Cooperation and Integration Unit
    Southeast Asia Department

  • Lucia Martin Casanueva
    Regional Cooperation and Integration Unit
    Southeast Asia Department/GMS Secretariat

Send inquiries to GMS Secretariat

Better Roads Give New Life to Southern Cambodia

Heng Pich Chhay used to deliver fertilizer along a bumpy, muddy road in Kampot province to rice farms in his area. Today, he can reach every corner of Cambodia on the much-improved national road network. And his company has become one of the country’s biggest fertilizer distributors. Photo: ADB/Pring Samrang.

Better Roads Give New Life to Southern Cambodia

In Cambodia's Kampot province, local businesses thrive with the development of the Greater Mekong Subregion's Southern Coastal Corridor.


All Myanmar’s Roads Lead to Development

Daw Than Than Win decided to open a restaurant in Taikgyi Township after the 254-kilometer Yangon-Pyi road was improved with ADB financing in the 1980s. She said that the road became a busy thoroughfare since the upgrade, cutting travel time to Yangon city by half. Photo: ADB/Myo Thame.

All Myanmar’s Roads Lead to Development

An old ADB road stands the test of time in Myanmar, while new road upgrades designed to benefit farming communities in the country’s Ayerwaddy Delta are in the planning stage.


Greater Mobility in Myanmar Raises Risks of Communicable Disease Contagion

In addition to prevention activities, a project to mitigate the spread of HIV/AIDS in Myanmar will support treatment and care services, the construction of rural health centers, and enhanced service delivery in hundreds of villages. Photo: ADB/Myo Thame.

Greater Mobility in Myanmar Raises Risks of Communicable Disease Contagion

Prevention and awareness-raising programs help address increasing HIV/AIDS transmission risks as Myanmar’s borders open and mobility grows with the construction of new roads.


Organic Farming along the Mighty Mekong

A long stretch of road linking several provinces of Myanmar, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Thailand and Viet Nam is home to many impoverished farmers. But things are slowly changing. Thanks to an improved road system, farmers now have an opportunity to distribute their agricultural products over long distances, reaching large, rich markets across the region. Farmers are also adding value to agricultural


(Left to Right) Sok Chenda Sophea, Minister Attached to the Prime Minister, Secretary General Council for Development of Cambodia; Hong Xiao Yong, PRC Ambassador to Viet Nam; Somchith Inthamith, Vice Minister, Ministry of Planning, Lao PDR; Nguyen Chi Dung, Vice Minister, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Viet Nam; Lei Lei Thein, Deputy Minister, Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development, Myanmar; Porametee Vimolsiri, Deputy Secretary General, National Economic and Social Development Board, Thailand; and Bindu Lohani, Vice-President, Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, ADB. Photo: ADB.

GMS Economic Corridors Must Yield More Jobs and Investment, Forum Hears

HA NOI, VIET NAM (8 August 2014) – The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) needs to ensure that economic corridors yield benefits in terms of trade, investment, and jobs, participants at the 6th GMS Economic Corridors Forum (ECF) heard today.