Purpose

The Symposium for Developing the North-South Economic Corridor, covering the Kunming-Chiang Rai-Bangkok (Western) Subcorridor, the Kunming-Ha Noi-Hai Phong (Central) Subcorridor, and the Nanning-Ha Noi (Eastern) Subcorridor, will review the progress in implementing the Strategy and Action Plan (SAP) for the North-South Economic Corridor (NSEC), particularly in the areas of logistics development, trade and transport facilitation, and promotion of cross border economic links. The theme of the Symposium is proposed to be "Realizing the Potential of the North-South Economic Corridor for Mutual Benefit"

Objectives

• Review and assess the progress in trade and transport facilitation, logistics development, and expansion of cross-border economic links along the subcorridors of the NSEC; Draw attention to issues and constraints affecting the development of the subcorridors, and recommend priority follow-up actions to address them;
• Increase the support of local authorities and the private sector to the development of the subcorridors, especially in addressing cross-border issues;
• Strengthen the platform for dialogue, coordination and networking among government authorities at the national and local levels and between the public and private sectors for developing the subcorridors of the NSEC.

Expected Outputs

• Enhanced dialogue, coordination and networking among central government agencies, provincial/local authorities and the private sector along the NSEC;
• Increased awareness and understanding of provincial/local authorities along the NSEC of the benefits and requisites of economic corridor development at the provincial/local level; and
• Set of recommendations on collaborative actions needed to resolve priority issues and address gaps in implementing the Strategy and Action Plan for NSEC development to be presented to ECF-3.

Target Participants

Participation is by invitation only

• governors/high-level senior officials and representatives of business associations of the provinces along the subcorridors in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam;
• senior officials from central government agencies in these countries - GMS national secretariat and relevant ministries, such as transport, commerce, trade, planning, or foreign ministry;
• GMS Business Forum and other private sector representatives; and
• development partners and research institutions involved in the development of the NSEC.