HANOI: Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha highlighted transport connectivity as being part of the development plan for the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) at the bloc's summit meeting in Vietnam on Saturday.
Addressing the plenary meeting of the GMS in Hanoi, Gen Prayut said it is important to build a comprehensive transport network for seamless connectivity in the subregion. He said Thailand is speeding up efforts to extend transport networks to border areas.
The government, he said, is also placing an emphasis on developments in special economic zones which can contribute to the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT), another key cooperation framework in the South of Thailand.
According to the premier, the subregion's economy needs enhancing, and Thailand is sharpening its competitiveness through transport infrastructure, science, technology and innovation initiatives under the so-called "Thailand 4.0" umbrella.
The government is developing the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) as a global production base, he said. Gen Prayut called on the GMS members to adhere to the principles of mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual benefit, also known as the "3Ms".
He also urged the GMS member countries to work together towards a shared future of dedication and sustainability. The pursuit of a wealthy and sustainable GMS community must also take environmental protection into account, Gen Prayut said.
Gen Prayut spoke of the economic value to the GMS of implementing transport infrastructure which can help foster linkage between the six countries in the subregion, home to 340 million people. The subregion's member countries are working together to level up income, reduce poverty and ease social inequality, he added.
The sixth summit meeting of the GMS came under the theme "Leveraging 25 Years of Cooperation, and Building a Sustainable, Integrated and Prosperous GMS".
Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Takehiko Nakao, who attended the meeting yesterday, pledged that the ADB will continue to support GMS with US$ 7 billion in funding to be given to the subregion over the next five years.
Based on the Hanoi Plan of Action and the Regional Investment Framework, which were adopted at the GMS Summit, the subregion is expected to support 227 projects worth US$66 billion from 2018 to 2022, which the ADB's funding will support.
The plan calls for an expansion of economic corridors to boost connectivity between countries, as well as between rural and urban centres, to ensure a more equitable distribution of the benefits of economic growth.