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Greater Mekong Subregion

Home : Regions and Countries : Regional Cooperation : Greater Mekong Subregion : The GMS Program

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The GMS Program

Since 1992, the countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) have embarked on a program of economic cooperation (the GMS Program) that aims to promote development through closer economic linkages.

The GMS Program, with support from ADB and other donors, helps the implementation of high priority subregional projects in transport, energy, telecommunications, environment, human resource development, tourism, trade, private sector investment, and agriculture.

Substantial progress has been achieved in terms of implementing GMS projects over the past 12 years. Priority infrastructure projects worth around US$4 billion have either been completed or are being implemented. Among these are the upgrading of the Phnom Penh (Cambodia)-Ho Chi Minh City (Viet Nam) highway and the East-West Economic Corridor that will eventually extend from the Andaman Sea to Da Nang. A significant amount of resources has been mobilized for the GMS Program.

For the 19 GMS projects that ADB has financed, GMS governments have provided about US$1.6 billion. ADB has

  • extended loans amounting to US$1.4 billion
  • generated US$2.2 billion in cofinancing for these investment projects
  • mobilized a total of US$105 million of grant resources, of which US$60 million have been provided by ADB, to finance technical assistance focusing on human resource development, tourism, environment, trade and investment.
ADB plays a multifaceted role in the GMS Program.
  • As a financier, ADB has been extending loan and technical assistance to GMS countries for the implementation of priority subregional projects.
  • As secretariat and coordinator of the GMS Program, ADB facilitates continuing subregional dialogue at both the political and operational levels, and among the key stakeholders of the GMS Program.
  • ADB also provides technical and advisory support for many activities under the GMS Program.
  • Very importantly, ADB plays the role of a catalist and an "honest broker" by bringing together the different participants in the Program, and helps them to reach consensus on key issues.