This report explains why Southeast Asian countries need to design pandemic recovery policies that hit both ambitious socioeconomic and environmental goals.
Cambodia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic have reported a steady drop in average COVID-19 cases per day in April 2022, according to a report on “Vaccination Rates, Effectiveness, and Safety” by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). In Cambodia, the average COVID-19 cases per day dropped from 164 to 18.4, and deaths decreased from 1 to 0.06, marking a fall in case fatality rate from 0.43% to 0.35%. In Lao PDR, daily infection rates declined steadily, averaging at 986 for April 2022 from 1102 in March 2022, while average deaths per day plateaued between 1 to 3.
In the Greater Mekong Subregion, environmental assessment for livestock value chains projects helps avoid, minimize, and mitigate environmental, health, and safety risks.
The Asian Development Bank and the Ministry of Health of Viet Nam convened the 4th GMS Health Sector Working Group Meeting on 8 December 2021. The theme was “Solidarity through Information Exchange for COVID-19 Immunization in the GMS”.
ADB’s $1.5 billion CARES Program for Thailand provides budget support for the government’s COVID-19 response.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) hosted a virtual event on 28 September 2021 to bring together stakeholders in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) to discuss evidence-based practices and achievements and challenges of using digital technology for COVID-19 vaccinations.
Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce’s Trade Policy and Strategy Office (TPSO) organized the CLMVT+ Forum 2021 on 24-26 August. The forum highlighted the TPSO study emphasizing the importance of achieving an even economic recovery in the GMS.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Thailand held the first Policy Platform meeting as part of the Thailand: COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support (CARES) program on 9 August. The meeting was led by Mr. Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, Finance Minister of the Government of Thailand and Asian Development Bank (ADB) Governor, and Mr. Ahmed M. Saeed, Vice-President (Operations 2), ADB.
This compendium of 13 briefs from the Policy Actions for COVID-19 Economic Recovery (PACER) Dialogues provide insights on how Southeast Asian countries and the People’s Republic of China can overcome the pandemic.
The 11th Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting was held on 21 July 2021, co-chaired by Mr. Prak Sokhonn, Cambodia Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India Minister of External Affairs. The meeting noted the progress in the MGC Plan of Action 2019-2022 implementation.