Migrant workers are essential to economic and social development across the Greater Mekong Subregion. They compensate for a growing shortage of labor and contribute substantially towards the economic well-being of many households through remittances.

The 25th Meeting of ASEAN Tourism Ministers held on 19 January 2022 in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, exchanged views on the way forward for the recovery of the region’s tourism industry. Bearing the theme “ASEAN – A Community of Peace and Shared Future,” the Meeting discussed the impact of COVID-19 on each ASEAN member state and emphasized the development of the tourism sector amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. 

Decline in Tourist Growth 

An additional $2 million grant funding from the Climate Investment Fund–Technical Assistance Facility (CIF–TAF) was approved on 17 October 2021 by ADB. This grant will support green and resilient COVID-19 recovery in the GMS, covering Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Viet Nam, through the CCESP TA. With this funding, the Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability Program (CCESP) will provide policy support, build institutional and technical capacities, and demonstrate innovative options to build back cleaner, greener, and more climate-resilient economies.

The GMS Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability Program (CCESP) Inception Workshop was held online on 23–24 September 2021, which gathered more than 100 participants from the different GMS countries. The workshop was co-hosted and co-chaired by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). The event formally marks the start of the implementation of ADB's TA 9915 or the GMS CCESP.

ADB’s $1.5 billion CARES Program for Thailand provides budget support for the government’s COVID-19 response.

This workshop on COVID-19 Food Security Response and Recovery Actions in the GMS to be held on 1 September 2021 will present the first Knowledge Product (KP1) of the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security Program technical assistance (TA 9916), offering an up-to-date overview of COVID-19 risks and responses and their implications for agri-food value chains around the GMS. 

Thailand will accelerate its railway connectivity, in line with the opening of the railway link between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) in December 2021.  

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.