This report reviews and updates the Pre-Investment Study for EWEC conducted in 2001. It consolidates the interests and concerns of stakeholders into a revised and updated strategy and action plan.

This strategic framework develops a practical approach to railway integration in the Greater Mekong Subregion, provides GMS countries with an initial framework for achieving integration and interoperability, identifies priority initiatives, builds a platform for further dialogue and discussion between and among GMS countries, and provides a context for evaluating future projects.

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.

Trade in food and other agricultural products is increasingly important across East and Southeast Asia, where high-income Asian economies have driven significant agricultural expansion, and the momentous growth of the People's Republic of China (PRC) promises more stimulus to agrofood activity in the region. The PRC is expected to become a net importer of agrofood in the coming decades, which will have significant implications within the region.