Prime Minister chairs plenary session of GMS 6

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc welcomed the heads of delegations attending the Conference: Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, Myanmar Vice President Henry Van Thio, Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi, and President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Takehiko Nakao.

After the welcoming ceremony, before the plenary session, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and the heads of delegations attended the closed session of the 6th GMS Summit.

In his opening remarks, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that from a poor region with a low level of development, the GMS has become a growth pole of Asia with dynamic economies. The achievements that have been made are very proud, the result of the tireless efforts of all GMS members as well as effective support from ADB. However, there are not only new opportunities but also great challenges ahead.

“I believe that the results of today's conference will create momentum for cooperation among the six countries to continue to develop more and more strongly,” said the Prime Minister.

The 6th GMS Summit, themed “Promoting 25 years of cooperation, building an integrated, sustainable and prosperous GMS”, aims to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of GMS cooperation; and to determine the direction for cooperation to build a prosperous, integrated and sustainably developed Mekong region.

GMS is a large region with a population of 340 million people, including 5 countries: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and 2 provinces of Yunnan and Guangxi of China. If we calculate the total economic scale of all, it is an “economy” with a GDP of more than 1,300 billion USD.

Over the past 25 years, the GMS economic cooperation mechanism has been formed and operated effectively in the fields of transportation, energy, environment, agriculture, tourism, private investment, human resource development, etc.

Previously, on March 30, the main activities within the framework of the 6th GMS Conference began with the opening of the GMS Business Summit Forum, which was held for the first time at the initiative of Vietnam.

Speaking at the Forum, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc affirmed: Located in the center of the dynamically developing Asia region, the GMS region is rising with all its determination, potential and strength, contributing to adding bright colors to the development picture of the entire continent, becoming an important growth driver of the world in the 21st century.

Accordingly, a new vision for GMS cooperation in the future after 2022, which is a connected, integrated, sustainably developed, prosperous and harmonious Mekong sub-region, needs to be shaped right now.

The Government Portal will update information on activities of the 6th GMS Summit.