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The Third GMS Summit
Vientiane, Lao PDR: 30-31 March 2008
Background | Objectives | Outputs | Participants | Signing Events and Other Ceremonies | Component Events | News Releases and Media Briefing Notes
Started in 1992, the GMS Program involves planning and carrying out subregional projects in nine areas: transport, telecommunications, tourism, environment, human resource development, agriculture, trade facilitation, and private investment.
The triennial GMS Summit meetings started in 2002 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. They serve as an important venue for Leaders to discuss and agree on priority actions in the GMS Program. The second Summit was held in Kunming, Yunnan Province of China in July 2005.
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The third GMS Summit, which was held in Vientiane, Lao PDR on 30-31 March 2008, had as its theme “Enhancing Competitiveness through Greater Connectivity”. The six GMS Leaders- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Lao Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh, Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein, Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung- discussed ways to deepen economic cooperation for their countries’ shared prosperity.
They discussed how connectivity improvements could help expand markets, improve access to social services and protect the environment. ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda joined the Third GMS Summit. Please see the Program of Activities.
At the Closed-Door Meeting, ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda joined the GMS Leaders and reported on the progress and challenges ahead for the GMS Program.
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The GMS Leaders issued the Joint Summit Declaration at the conclusion of the Third GMS Summit. This includes agreement on a comprehensive five-year Vientiane Plan of Action for GMS Development that aims to spur growth, reduce poverty, promote social development and enhance environmental protection in the subregion.
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In addition to the GMS Leaders and ADB President, the Summit also involved the GMS Ministers and Senior Officials. Business and youth representatives also participated in their respective Summit component events. Please see the list of participants.
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Signing Events Witnessed by the Leaders
Ceremonies Witnessed by the GMS Leaders and ADB President
- Ceremony for the Completion of Route 3 along the NSEC- This road is part of the Kunming-Bangkok component of the North-South Economic Corridor connecting Bangkok in Thailand and Kunming, Yunnan Province of the PRC, providing a reliable road transport route from Kunming to Bangkok
- Completion Ceremony for Phase I of the GMS Information Superhighway Project- This project comprises the hardware components of the broadband platform for voice, data and internet services linking the six GMS countries, helping reduce the digital divide in the subregion, and enhancing the use of information and communications technology for development and poverty reduction activities.
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GMS Youth Forum- This was the culmination of a series of activities that included national and regional youth consultations, and separate caravans that traveled along three GMS economic corridors and ended in Vientiane in time for the Summit. These activities provided an opportunity for young people representing a wide cross-section of the GMS youth population to learn more about the GMS Program and its 3 Cs strategic pillars of increased connectivity, improved competitiveness, and enhanced sense of community. The GMS Youth Message embodying the concerns and opportunities identified by the youth was presented to the GMS Leaders and ADB President in the latter’s meeting with the youth representatives. The My Mekong coffee table book, featuring photographs taken by GMS teenagers in five different locations in the subregion, was launched at the Youth Forum.
Business and Investment Dialogue (BID) - The BID was attended by representatives of the GMS business community and from a few international corporations that have business operations in the GMS, and involved discussions of key challenges to trade and investment in the GMS and of possible ways by which to address some of these challenges, organized into three session. The highlights of discussions at the BID were later presented by the Session Chairs at a meeting between GMS Leaders and ADB President, and BID participants.
GMS Exhibit- This comprises three exhibits as follows:
- My Mekong Youth Forum Exhibit featured photographs from the coffee table book;
- My World My Home Exhibit featured the winning and selected pieces of the Core Environment Program (CEP) sponsored children’s artworks competition; and
- GMS Ecotourism Exhibit displayed how ecotourism provides sustainable livelihoods for local people and contributes substantially to poverty alleviation and heritage conservation in the GMS.
A separate GMS History Exhibit showcased the impressive gains made by the GMS Program since its establishment in 1992, and included an interactive GMS connectivity map.
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The Summit was extensively covered by both international and native-language media in GMS countries.
In the run-up to the Summit, a series of articles tackled various key aspects and results of the GMS Program.
See also Report on China's participation in the GMS cooperation released*.
* These links take you outside the ADB website. Please use the back button to return to ADB.org.
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