15 September 2015
GMS Ministers Call for Further Financing to Fully Implement Planned Projects
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Ministers from the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) countries called for further funding to fully implement around US$30 billion worth of development and infrastructure projects, at the close of their annual conference organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

ADB10 September 2015: Ministers from the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) countries called for further funding to fully implement around US$30 billion worth of development and infrastructure projects, at the close of their annual conference organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Ministers and senior officials from the six GMS countries of Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam met with ADB officials and other development partners in Nay Pi Taw, Myanmar, from 9-10 September 2015. Discussions took place on the conference theme of ‘Taking Action for Inclusive and Sustainable Development in the GMS.’

ADB Vice-President Stephen Groff highlighted the need for financing to also come from private sector sources, in view of the resources that will be needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the region. He noted that official development assistance (ODA) flows in the Asia-Pacific region are around US$26 billion a year, a fraction of the estimated US$1 trillion that is needed in the region, and he called for systematic efforts to leverage additional resources.

Ministers called for infrastructure that will enable “seamless” cross-border trade and transport, as well as improvements in energy and telecommunications services, so as to enable the realization of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Economic Community. They endorsed a framework for urban development in the GMS.

An ADB press release noted that, since its inception in 1992, the GMS Program has invested around US$17 billion in projects to improve road and transport links, cross-border energy, tourism infrastructure and communicable disease prevention. [ADB Press Release] [ADB Vice-President’s Statement]

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