FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

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Countries along Greater Mekong/Lancang River Plan 227 Projects

April 2, 2018—The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) held its 6th Summit on March 31 in Hanoi, agreeing to a Hanoi Action Plan and a Regional Investment Framework (RIF) 2022, identifying a pipeline of 227 projects with an indicative cost of $66 billion. The GMS was founded in 1992 by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the six Southeast Asian nations in the Mekong River basin, together with Yunnan and Guangxi provinces in China, where it is named the Lancang River. The GMS has supported projects worth $21 billion, primarily in transportation.

The RIF, called a “living pipeline” of projects that will be reviewed and updated regularly, is also largely focused on transportation, with 97 of the 227 projects and $56 billion of the $66 billion in transportation projects. The GMS leaders

“strongly supported the economic corridor approach that transforms transport networks into transnational economic corridors, linking production, trade and infrastructure,”

reports Xinhua.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at the summit: “The GMS, once an important area along the ancient Maritime Silk Road, is now where the Silk Road Economic Belt connects with the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. This puts the GMS countries in a solid and unique position in the Belt and Road cooperation.”

The 7th GMS Summit will be held in Cambodia in 2021.