GMS Sector Activities
Transport
Information on the GMS Cross-Border Transport Agreement is separately available with latest events at http://www.adb.org/GMS/GMS-SA-trade.asp.
| YEAR |
DATE |
ACTIVITY |
| 2006 |
22-23 March 2006 |
10th Meeting of the Subregional Transport Forum (STF-10) |
| 2005 |
1-2 June |
9th Meeting of the Subregional Transport Forum (STF-9) |
| |
February |
Workshop on Development of the GMS Kunming-Haiphong Corridor |
| 2004 |
August |
8th Meeting of the Subregional Transport Forum |
| |
August |
Major Progress Achieved at the Negotiation Meeting on Annexes and Protocols (Stage 2) of the GMS Cross-Border Transport Agreement |
| |
April |
GMS Officials Negotiate Annexes and Protocols (Stage 2) of Cross-Border Transport Agreement |
| 2003 |
August |
Major Milestones Achieved at GMS Cross-Border Transport Agreement Meeting |
| |
February |
GMS Officials Negotiate Annexes and Protocols of Cross-Border Transport Agreement |
| |
January |
ESCAP and ADB conduct Seminar on Cross-border Transport Facilitation in the GMS |
| 2002 |
August |
Transport Forum Prepares for PRC's Accession to the GMS Cross Border Agreement |
| 2001 |
November |
Cambodia joins Cross-Border Accord |
| |
November |
Four Party Meeting Draws Up Implementation Plan for North-South Corridor |
| |
May |
Subregional Transport Forum Eases Process of Reaching Cross-Border Agreements in the GMS |
| 1999 |
November |
Fifth Meeting, 3-4 November 1999, Bangkok, Thailand |
| 1998 |
May |
Fourth Meeting, 14-15 May 1998, Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic |
| 1996 |
December |
Third Meeting, 12-13 December 1996, Kunming, Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China |
| 1995 |
August |
Second Meeting, 9-10 August 1995, Phnom Penh, Cambodia |
| |
April |
Inception Meeting, 24-25 April 1995, Yangon, Myanmar |
View other GMS sectors.
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The First Negotiation Meeting on Stage 1 annexes and protocol of the GMS Cross-Border Transport Agreement was held in Hanoi, Viet Nam on 25-27 February 2003. The Meeting discussed and negotiated: (i) seven annexes and one protocol in Stage 1, (ii) the guidelines for negotiating the annexes and protocols, and (iii) the draft amendment to Article 17 of the Agreement.
The Meeting was attended by GMS senior officials from the relevant ministries and agencies.
Stage 1 annexes and protocol include:
- Annex 2: Registration of vehicles in international traffic
- Annex 4: Facilitation of frontier crossing formalities
- Annex 7: Road traffic regulation and signage
- Annex 11: Road and bridge design and construction standards
- Annex 12: Border crossing and transit facilities and services
- Annex 13a: Multimodal carrier liability system
- Annex 15: Commodity classification system
- Protocol 1: Designation of corridors, routes, and points of entry and exit
The Meeting reached agreement in the many important areas discussed. The Meeting agreed on and finalized the guidelines to negotiate the annexes and protocols, which will provide the broad rules and procedures to be followed in all negotiation meetings. These guidelines include, among other things, the mode of decision-making and the role of ADB as facilitator and secretariat to the negotiation process. The Meeting also agreed on and finalized the draft amendment to Article 17, which will allow mutual recognition of driving permits issued by the GMS national authorities.
The Meeting agreed in principle on the text of annexes 4, 12, and 15 and Protocol 1. The Meeting also reached partial agreement on the annexes 2, 7, 11, and 13a.
Regarding Annexes 7, 11, and 13a, the GMS delegations agreed in principle to adopt the relevant international convention or applicable ASEAN regimes. However, they requested to include in the main body of these three annexes the full text of the appropriate sections of the conventions or regimes, instead of simply referring to them. This will make the annexes stand-alone documents, and will facilitate the internal approval process required to finalize them. Regarding Annex 2, the GMS delegations requested ADB to come up with a proposed harmonized listing of items to be included in the registration certificates and registration plates of motor vehicles in cross-border traffic.
The second negotiation meeting is tentatively scheduled to be held on 12-14 May 2003 in Kunming, Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China.
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The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP) and ADB organized a Seminar on Facilitation of Cross-Border Transport in the GMS in Vientiane, the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) on 27-29 January 2003. The objective of the Seminar was to assist the GMS countries in formulating their respective national positions for the negotiation meetings for Stage 1 annexes and protocols, the first of which will be held in Hanoi on 25-27 February 2003. In addition to ADB and ESCAP experts, officials from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) served as resource persons and made presentations on international conventions that are relevant to Stage 1 annexes and protocols. Senior officials from various ministries and agencies concerned in the six GMS countries participated in the Seminar.
It will be recalled that the GMS Agreement to Facilitate the Cross-border Transport of Goods and People has been signed by Cambodia, the People's Republic of China, the Lao PDR, Thailand, and Viet Nam. To fully implement the Agreement soon, the signatory countries will have to negotiate, finalize, and sign the Agreement's 17 annexes and 3 protocols. Myanmar has indicated that it will sign the Agreement, but the date of its intended accession is still to be determined. The Agreement's annexes and protocols have been classified into three stages according to ease of understanding and ease of reaching agreement. Stage 1 annexes and protocols are scheduled to be negotiated in 2003, Stage 2 in 2004, and Stage 3 in 2005.
Stage 1 annexes and protocols include:
- Annex 2: Registration of vehicles in international traffic
- Annex 4: Facilitation of frontier crossing formalities
- Annex 7: Road traffic regulation and signage
- Annex 11: Road and bridge design and construction standards
- Annex 12: Border crossing and transit facilities and services
- Annex 13a: Multimodal carrier liability system
- Annex 15: Commodity classification system
- Protocol 1: Designation of corridors, routes, and points of entry and exit
The participants discussed extensively and had constructive deliberations on various issues related to the Stage 1 Annexes and Protocol, relevant international conventions, Asian Highway routes and Asian Highway Classification and Design Standards as well as ASEAN Highway Design Standards.
Five major issues were identified, which will be deliberated on during the first negotiation meeting:
- Format of annexes and protocols will have to be revised to make it easier for some countries to sign and ratify.
- Modality of single stop-single window will have to be agreed upon.
- Design standards for roads and bridges to be covered under the Agreement will have to be decided (whether ASEAN highway of ESCAP Asian Highway).
- Corridors/routes/border points (Protocol 1) will have to be identified.
- Institutional arrangements to monitor, review, and modify the Agreement needs to be established.
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A key outcome of the Meeting was the finalization of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Clarification of the Relationship Between the GMS Cross-Border Agreement and Its Annexes and Protocols and Commitment to Amend Article 17 (Driving Permits).
The STF-7 agreed that this MOU will be signed at the GMS Summit to be held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 3 November 2002, instead of the 11th GMS Ministerial Conference to be held in Phnom Penh on 23-25 September 2002, as initially planned. This will give the GMS officials concerned sufficient time to obtain necessary internal Governments clearances/ approvals for the signing of the MOU. The signing of the MOU will pave the way for the accession of the People's Republic of China to the GMS Cross-Border Framework Agreement during the GMS Summit.
The STF-7 also agreed on the next steps for the negotiation and signing of the annexes and protocols to the GMS Cross-Border Framework Agreement, which have been classified into three phases/stages according to relative ease of understanding and reaching agreement. The first meeting on the first stage annexes and protocols is scheduled to be held in January 2003.
View Summary of Proceedings of STF-7.
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Cambodia became the latest signatory to the Agreement for Facilitating the Cross-Border Movement of Goods and People (Cross Border Agreement) that was originally signed by Lao PDR, Thailand, and Viet Nam on 26 November 1999 in Vientiane.
As authorized by Cambodian Prime Minister, H.E. Hun Sen, H.E. Cham Prasidh, Minister of Commerce, signed the Instrument of Accession during the 10th Ministerial Conference in Yangon on 29 November 2001. Prior to this, Ministers from Lao PDR, Thailand, and Viet Nam signed an amendment to the Cross-Border Agreement that allows other GMS countries to become party to the Agreement, and facilitates the ratification and approval process in each signatory country of the Agreement and its implementing annexes and protocols.
By 2005, the rehabilitation of most priority GMS transport corridors, e.g., Bangkok-Phnom Penh-Ho Chi Minh City-Vung Tau highway and the Thailand-Lao PDR-Viet Nam East-West Transport Corridor, would have been completed. With the anticipated GMS-wide implementation of the cross-border accord by 2005, the freer movement of goods and people along these improved corridors would greatly facilitate economic interaction between and among the riparian countries.
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Senior transport, finance, and foreign affairs officials from the PRC, Lao PDR, Thailand, and ADB representatives met in Bangkok last 14 November 2001 to discuss implementation arrangements for the Chiang Rai-Kunming via Lao PDR Road Improvement Project, also known as the North-South Corridor. The key missing link of this Corridor is the section from Boten to Houei Sai in Lao PDR territory, which is known as R3. This meeting follows the successful conclusion on 5 November 2001 of the mediation process between the Government of Lao PDR and Business Siam, Co., Ltd., which will bring back the ownership of the R3 Project to the Lao Government. It will be recalled that an ADB-financed feasibility study of the Corridor was completed in 1998. Implementation of the R3 Project, which was supposed to be undertaken by a public-private concession, was suspended due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
The four parties agreed during the meeting to adopt the existing alignment, except for the Luang Namtha bypass section, for the R3 Project due largely to environmental and social considerations. It was also agreed to use a mix of class II and III of the ASEAN highway standards for the Corridor. Representatives of PRC and Thailand confirmed that their respective Governments would provide loan assistance to Lao PDR for the development of R3 under favorable terms. "For its part, ADB, which has always been a lender of last resort, has included in its lending pipeline to Lao PDR for 2002 a tentative amount of $20 million from the concessional ADF resources to help implement the R3 Project," says ADB representative and Deputy Director of ADB's Infrastructure, Energy, and Financial Sector Department (West), Mr. Preben Nielsen.
ADB will provide technical assistance (TA) to Lao PDR to update the feasibility study of R3, and conduct environmental, resettlement, and social impact assessment. The TA is scheduled to commence in December 2001, and is expected to be completed in mid-2002. Design/construction issues as well as financing arrangements related to the R3 Project will be considered during the course of the TA implementation.
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The Sixth Meeting of Subregional Transport Forum (STF-6) for the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) was held in Vientiane, Lao PDR on 17 to 18 May 2001. Among its major outcomes was an agreement that will facilitate the accession by all GMS countries to the Framework for Facilitating the Cross-Border Movement of Goods and People in the GMS. So far, only Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam are signatories to this Agreement. The aim of the GMS countries is for all six GMS countries to be signatories to the Framework Agreement by the end of 2001.
A draft amendment to the existing Trilateral Cross-Border Agreement Between and Among Lao PDR, Thailand, and Viet Nam was agreed upon by the STF-6 that will: (1) facilitate the ratification of the three signatory countries of the Trilateral Agreement, (2) open the agreement for accession by other GMS countries, and (3) facilitate the accession by other GMS countries to the Cross-Border Agreement. STF-6 agreed that each participating country would complete the necessary internal preparations to ensure the signing of the Amendment and Cambodia's accession during the 10th GMS Ministerial Conference tentatively scheduled in the third quarter of 2001.
The proposed amendment is also especially significant since it would facilitate the ratification and entry into force of the Cross-Border Agreement Thailand, for example, has not yet ratified the Agreement since it is awaiting the agreements on annexes and protocols.) The proposed amendment will separate the process of signing, ratification, and entry into force of the Agreement from the process of signing, ratification, and entry into force of the annexes and protocols.
The objectives of STF-6 were to maintain the momentum of cooperation in the transport sector in the GMS, advance specific subregional initiatives in the transport sector; and reinforce as well as focus the subregional consultative process.
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