MANILA, PHILIPPINES (11 December 2012) - Ministers from the Greater Mekong Subregion will review progress on the Regional Investment Framework to boost implementation of the GMS Strategic Framework 2012-2022, as they meet today and tomorrow for the 18th GMS Ministerial Conference in Nanning, People's Republic of China.

BANGKOK, THAILAND (11 December 2012) – The Government of Sweden today committed $8.3 million for a second phase of the Core Environment Program and Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative (CEP-BCI), an Asian Development Bank (ADB) administered program helping the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) achieve environmentally-friendly economic growth.

Over the past 20 years, the Greater Mekong Subregion Program has achieved substantial success in improving regional connectivity through investments of $15 billion as well as more than 180 technical assistance projects.

This GMS E-News is a quarterly publication to provide readers with an update on activities and major developments in pursuit of accelerated development of the countries sharing the Mekong River.
In this issue:

This is the summary of discussions at the 13th Meeting of the Regional Power Trade Coordination Committee (RPTCC-13) in Yangon, Myanmar on 27 November 2012.

This document summarizes the outcome of the 11th meeting of the GMS Working Group on Human Resource Development in Yangon, Myanmar on 1-2 November 2012.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (7 November 2012) - The Asian Development Bank and Australian Agency for International Development will provide an $87.39 million package of loans and grants to help Lao People's Democratic Republic and Viet Nam pair infrastructure upgrades with community-based disaster risk management and enhanced regional forecasting to improve flood and drought preparedness in the Greater Mekong Subregion.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (31 October 2012) - The Asian Development Bank is providing $20 million in grants and loans to support Lao People's Democratic Republic and Viet Nam prevent the spread of HIV infections in 23 border provinces where risks are growing due to increased population movement and commercial activities along economic corridors.

The 7th Semi-Annual Meeting of the Working Group on Environment (WGE AM-18) was held in Beijing, People’s Republic of China (PRC). The meeting was hosted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), with support from the Greater Mekong Subregion Environment Operations Center (EOC). The major objectives of the meeting were to (i) report on Core Environment Program and Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative’s (CEP-BCI) activity status and component strategies, (ii) discuss CEP-BCI implementation, and (iii) discuss related programs.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (14 September 2012) - The six member countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion celebrate 20 years of economic cooperation today, with the once conflict-ridden area now an Asian showcase for growth, poverty reduction, and regional integration.