The Tenth Meeting of the Subregional Trasport Forum (STF-10) was held in Vientiane, Lao PDR on 22-23 March 2006. The Meeting was jointly  organized by the Ministry of Communications, Transport and Construction (MCTPC) of the Govenrment of Lao PDR and Asian Development Bank (ADB).

In the last meeting (RPTCC-4) held in Yangon, the RPTCC members deliberated on the key institutional arrangements for the stage 1 of the Regional Power Trade Operating Agreement (RPTOA), particularly on the establishment of the Focal Group (FG), its TOR and capacity building plan. Since then the FG and the Planning Working Group (PWG) have been established, and their meetings held. The RPTCC-4 meeting also discussed practices/ experiences in regional power trade in other regions to serve as initial lessons in design of power market arrangements.

The Focal Group was established with the holding of the its first meeting (FG-1) in Hanoi in January 2006. The earlier FG-1 meeting agreed on the appointment of the authorities (chair and co-chair), the setting up of communication channels/ procedures, prioritization of activities, and the establishment of the Planning Working Group (PWG). PRC was appointed chair for the next two years, with ADB as co-chair. The FG-2 meeting was co-organized by the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy (MIME) of Cambodia and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The establishment of the Focal Group (FG) was agreed during the RPTCC-4 meeting held in Yangon in September 2005, to coordinate the implementation of the RPTCC activities in each GMS country. The FG was the first institution created for the implementation of the Regional Power Trade Operating Agreement (PTOA). The list of FG members was recently finalized based on nominations submitted by the GMS countries. The FG-1 meeting was attended by FG members nominated by the six GMS member countries, as well as by representatives of AFD, Soluziona, World Bank and ADB.

Collaborative infrastructure projects are undertaken in the Greater Mekong Subregion because, in theory, they help to promote greater trade and investment flows among neighboring countries.

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

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.

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 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.