This assessment indicates a mixed performance for the Transport Sector Strategy Study, 2006-2015 based on an assessment of the overarching goals upon which the study was based.

The Development Partners’ Assistance Matrix for the GMS Economic Cooperation Program is an inventory of development partners’ ongoing and planned subregional projects in the GMS.

This issue of the Journal of Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Development Studies features five articles of subregional importance spanning the subjects of free trade areas, tourism, and human trafficking.

This document outlines the Greater Mekong Subregion human resource development strategy.

This issue of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Journal of Development Studies features the outputs of four research projects funded by grants under the Research Program of the Phnom Penh Plan for Development Management (PPP).

The regional cooperation operations business plan for the GMS for 2011-2013 is consistent with the RCSP. The regional cooperation operations business plan is guided by Strategy 2020 and informed by the evaluation study of Asian Development Bank (ADB)-cofinanced GMS operations that was undertaken by the Independent Evaluation Department.

In this issue of the Journal of Greater Mekong Subregion Development Studies, we feature five articles that concern some of the more pressing issues of cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) - trade facilitation and trade logistics, the trade impact of cross-border transport infrastructure, tourism corridor development, and biofuels and rural renewable energy. The diversity of the topics tackled in this volume reflects the multifaceted challenges of regional cooperation.

This Midterm Review of the 10-year Strategic Framework of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS–SF) (i) assesses whether the GMS–SF is still relevant and appropriate, considering the progress made and the changing regional and global environments; and (ii) puts forward recommendations to improve its overall impact.

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.

The fledgling Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Journal for Development Studies, published under the auspices of the Phnom Penh Plan (PPP) for Development Management, moves a step ahead with the second issue. In what might be considered as "ascending steps," GMS scholarship is moving forward, slowly but surely. The PPP's commitment is to ensure that we continue to make strides towards our goal of bridging the gap between research and capacity building and to propagate the gospel of balanced socioeconomic development in the GMS.