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Report by the Co-Chairs of the Meeting
Mr. Rajat Nag, Director General, Mekong Department, ADB
Mr. Ziqian Liang, Deputy Director-General, International Department, Ministry of Finance, People's Republic of China
Introduction
1. Excellencies, Vice President Jin, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen: I am greatly honored and pleased to present a report of the Development Partners' Meeting held yesterday. I had the privilege of chairing this meeting with my colleague, Mr. Ziqian Liang, Deputy Director-General of the International Department of the Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China. I am pleased to inform Your Excellencies that private sector representatives participated in the meeting for the first time. The meeting was attended by 39 representatives of bilateral and multilateral development agencies and the private sector. Let me summarize the key points that were discussed yesterday.
Highlights
2. Development partners warmly welcomed the opportunity to actively participate in the GMS Program. They recognized the immense potential of the subregion and its development imperatives. They expressed keen interest in helping the GMS countries achieve their shared vision of an integrated, prosperous and equitable subregion. They noted the strong commitment to the Program and its ownership by the governments and believe that the time is now very opportune to expand their association with the Program. While many of the development partners are already involved in the GMS countries at the national level, many indicated a strong interest to add regional cooperation to the scope of their activities. Some development partners such as Japan renewed their strong commitment to the GMS Program and others expressed keen interest in providing support and becoming involved. The GMS Strategic Framework and the Development Matrix adopted by the GMS countries provide the appropriate framework in which to plan and deliver their development assistance.
3. Development partners noted that while the resource requirement of the GMS is huge, while available resources are limited. Against this, it was noted that private sector funds are still relatively untapped in the subregion, and if mobilized, they could considerably augment official resources in realizing the region's development objectives. It was therefore agreed by the meeting to intensify the dialogue with the private sector; and at the same time, GMS countries would take measures to enhance the enabling environment for private sector participation in the region. This would include ensuring a predictable legal framework, promoting good governance and establishing clear investment guidelines and procedures. The development partners were generally impressed with the results achieved by the GMS program so far and were also encouraged by the commitment and ownership of the GMS Program by the GMS countries. They noted this as a key reason for participating in the meeting and for wanting to explore avenues for closer cooperation with the GMS Program.
4. The development partners appreciated the key role that human resources development plays in the implementation of the GMS Program. In this context, they welcomed the Phnom Penh Plan initiative that provides high quality capacity building support to GMS managers. They indicated a strong commitment to the Plan and ways will now be explored to expand the involvement of the development partners in the Plan.
5. It was clarified that the concept of partnership in the GMS that is available to the development partners is broad and flexible, within the context of the GMS Strategic Framework and Development Matrix. The partnership could range from direct financing of individual projects, to cofinancing with other partners or GMS countries, or using various public-private sector partnership modalities. None of these are, of course, mutually exclusive. The development partners were encouraged to consider joining various sectoral GMS working groups and forums in order to be directly involved in identifying priority actions and investment needs, and much more importantly, to be involved up front.
6. Development partners called for a more substantive involvement of civil society, including NGOs in the GMS Program. It was recognized that NGOs possess knowledge, skills and experience that can make them effective partners in the development process. It was noted by the development partners that such continuing dialogue with civil society has already been underway for some time though more can and should be done.
Conclusion
7. Excellencies, to conclude, the development partners noted the significant progress achieved by the GMS Program over the past 11 years. Dialogue among development partners is good and mutually supportive. However, in order to meet the development challenges of the next decade of cooperation and beyond, it was agreed that there is a need to enhance the dialogue and expand the partnership between the GMS countries and the development partners. Success in this approach would lay an important foundation to accelerate the implementation of the GMS Program and move the region closer to the achievement of the Summit Leaders' vision of a peaceful and prosperous community. It was agreed that it was not "business as usual" anymore in the GMS. Arranging the meeting between development partners and representatives of the GMS governments at this time was a reflection of the important changes taking place in the region. There is a need to increase the effort through stronger and broader partnerships under the umbrella of the GMS Program.
8. I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank all of our development partners for having joined us yesterday and today and reaffirmed their commitment to support the GMS Program. We look forward to building a stronger relationship with them as we move forward in the implementation of the GMS Program.
We submit this report to the Ministers for their consideration and guidance.
Thank you.
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