The first-ever GMS Business Forum will be a highlight of the sixth Greater Mekong Sub-region Summit (GMS-6) to be held in Vietnam later this month, heard an international press conference in Hanoi on March 15.

Deputy Foreign Minister Dang Dinh Quy 

As an initiative of host Vietnam, the event aims to strengthen dialogues between enterprises and governments and connect businesses in the region and the world, while encouraging resources from the private sector for the GMS Programme, said Deputy Foreign Minister Dang Dinh Quy, head of the GMS-6 organising board.

The forum will be chaired by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and see the attendance of the leaders of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the ASEAN Secretary-General, among others. 

Participants, who come from ministries, sectors and localities of the GMS member nations, development partners, and regional and domestic enterprises, will focus their discussions on infrastructure development, funding sources, hi-tech agriculture, and the connection between the GMS and global trade, according to Tran Bao Ngoc from the Foreign Ministry, head of the Content Subcommittee of the GMS-6.

The initiative has received active support and cooperation of international, regional and local businesses. So far, more than 200 enterprises have registered to attend the forum, including big groups from China’s Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guangdong provinces.

It is expected to see the participation of more than 1,000 businesses from around the world, particularly from ASEAN, GMS member nations, and partners, namely Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Europe, Ngoc said.

The GMS cooperation was launched in 1992 as an initiative of the ADB. The GMS Economic Cooperation Programme is the most complete cooperation programme that involves Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, and China’s Yunnan and Guangxi provinces.

The programme prioritises infrastructure development, energy, telecommunications, tourism, trade-investment, human resources, and the environment.

The GMS is expected to receive 66 billion USD in investment to strengthen regional economic cooperation in the next five years.

Since its inception, the GMS Programme has mobilised 21 billion USD for the region.-VNA