Greater Mekong Subregion

TOWARDS A NEW STRATEGIC

FRAMEWORK
The Sixth GMS Development Dialogue
A video-
video-linked conference
Hosted at the ADB Resident Mission in Cambodia
22 July 2010

Pradeep Srivastava
Southeast Asia Department, ADB

The views expressed in this paper/presentation are the views of the author and do not necessarily
reflect the views or policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of Governors, or the
governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper
and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. Terminology used may not necessarily
be consistent with ADB official terms.

Background
• First GMS Strategic Framework (SF) ends in 2012
• Preparation of new SF now underway: concept note
prepared and first round of in-country consultations
completed
• Feedback from consultations and other work to be
reviewed by GMS Ministers in August
• First draft of new SF to be reviewed at regional
workshop and in country consultations – Nov/Dec
• Work in progress – early, consultative stage

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Conclusions of Mid-term Review of SF
in 2007
• SF remains valid and good basis for moving forward; not
necessary to make changes in SF but opportunities for
fine-tuning to enhance impact
• Good progress on hardware; less progress on software;
software needs more attention to improve impact
• Going forward also important to focus on:
▫ Capacity building for lower income GMS countries
▫ Increased participation by private sector and other
stakeholders
▫ Enhanced resource mobilization
▫ Increased linkages with other sub-regional initiatives
▫ Strengthened organizational effectiveness

Feedback from in-country

consultations
• GMS countries remain very positive about current SF
• Support vision of GMS that is: integrated, prosperous
and harmonious
• Agree with “3Cs” strategic priorities: connectivity;
competitiveness; and community
• Appreciate approach of GMS Program: pragmatic;
activity-driven; and results-oriented
• Note mutual trust and good will that has been developed
• Believe Program has made significant contributions to
both growth and poverty reduction
• Also have generally shared consensus on strategic
thrusts and cross-cutting issues

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First Strategic Thrust: Strengthening Infrastructure
Linkages (and regional cooperation in agriculture)
• Transport – improved physical connectivity major
achievement; more progress now needed on CBTA and other
software to transform transport corridors into economic
corridors
• Energy – GMS power interconnection projects helped lay
basis for grid interconnection; more progress needed on
policy and regulatory issues as well as on energy efficiency
and renewable energy
• Telecommunications
T l i ti – optical
ti l fiber
fib iinterconnection
t ti iin place;
l
sector strategy approved and needs to be pursued
• Agriculture – key to transformation of transport corridors
into economic corridors; new CASP focuses, inter alia, on
cross-border trade and agri-business development
• Working groups active and generally effective; may need
restructuring to handle future responsibilities

Second Strategic Thrust: Facilitating

Cross-Border Trade, Investment and
Tourism
• Trade and Investment – strategic framework
formulated but impact limited; concerned
working groups not active and overlap with work
on CBTA
• Tourism – GMS firmly on world
world’ss tourism map;
tourism WG very active and linked in with
private sector; important to better prioritize new
activities and projects

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Third Strategic Thrust: Enhancing
Private Sector Participation and
Competitiveness
• GMS Business Forum (GMS-BF) established and
playing an active role in many of the GMS
working groups
• GMS-BF has p potential to p
playy keyy role in
promoting cross-border investment; and
measures need to be put in place to realize that
potential

Fourth Strategic Thrust: Developing

Human Resources
• Key accomplishments include Phnom Penh Plan
(PPP) for development management and
implementation of communicable disease projects
• New Human Resource Development Strategic
Framework and Action Plan will guide cooperation
in health
health, education and skills development
development, labor
and migration, and social development
• Working group on HRD restructured to support new
framework

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Fifth Strategic Thrust: Protecting the
Environment & Promoting Sustainable
Use of Shared Natural Resources
• Progress on laying foundation for implementing
more effective and comprehensive agenda for
sustainable development
• Core Environment Program launched and
En ironment Operations Center established to ser
Environment servee
as secretariat of working group on environment
• Initiatives now need to be continued and reinforced

Progress on Cross-cutting Issues (1)

• Recognizing Different Levels of Development
▫ ADB supported operations heavily focused on less
developed GMS countries; needs to be continued
priority under new SF
• Links to Other Regional Organizations
▫ Steps
p taken to avoid duplication
p and improve
p
coordination with ASEAN and MRC; but much
more can and should be done
• Increasing Participation of Other Stakeholders
▫ Program becoming more inclusive; but could still
be doing more

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Progress on Cross-cutting Issues (2)
• Resource Mobilization and Donor Coordination
▫ Critical to Program’s overall success
▫ More resources being raised but primarily from ADB
▫ Need to generate more financing from other official
sources and private sector
• Monitoring and Evaluation
▫ Needs to be better clarity on regional benefits of
programs and projects
▫ Baseline indicators need to be established
▫ Progress needs to be better monitored and evaluated

Progress on Cross-cutting Issues (3)

• Organizational Effectiveness
▫ Current arrangements provided adequate
administrative framework for implementing SF
▫ Capacity of national GMS secretariats being improved
▫ Working groups sharpening focus of work for greater
impact
• Role of ADB
▫ GMS countries appreciate ADB’s role; urge efficiency
improvements
▫ Propose enhancement of ADB’s role in helping forge
agreements across countries

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Changing Global and Regional Trends 1
• Economic Growth
▫ Global recession accentuated shift in global economic
activity to Asia; but critical that Asia (including GMS)
continues to focus on competitiveness
▫ Competitiveness in Asia driven by creation of regional
pp y chains with manyy different countries adding
supply g
value to specific parts of supply chain; this in turn
requires excellent logistics and other measures to
facilitate firms ability to participate in supply chains
▫ GMS strategy of “connectivity” serving its members
well; and needs to be maintained

Changing Global and Regional Trends 2

• Spatial Development
▫ Export orientation of most of Asia leading to
concentration of growth along coast lines
▫ Spatial concentration likely to continue along with
trend toward urban development
▫ Both
B th can llead
d tto growing
i iinequality
lit
▫ GMS concentration on infrastructure, agriculture
and human development important for more
equitable growth; migration also powerful tool in
equalizing living standards

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Changing Global and Regional Trends 3
• Finance for Development
▫ Held up reasonably despite Global Recession; but future
less promising
▫ GMS countries need to look to private sector sources of
capital for development projects
• Climate Change
▫ Major
j g global development
p that needs highlighting
g g g
▫ Push for mitigation through reducing carbon emissions and
rewarding carbon sinks; and for adaptation
▫ Implies increase in value of GMS countries’ still ample
stock of forest resources; as well as increase in value of
commodities that intensive in use of scarce factors like
water

Changing Global and Regional Trends 4

• Institutional Developments
▫ ASEAN Economic Community targeted for 2015; behind
schedule but trend clear
▫ Asian regionalism; plethora of institutions
▫ G-20 emerging as premier forum for international
economic cooperation; launched new Global Agriculture
and Food Security Program with vetting of proposals by
regional
g organizations
g
▫ Regional and sub-regional organizations increasingly
important in negotiation of free trade and other agreements
and in acting as financial intermediaries to streamline
financing of regional projects

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THANK YOU