Proposal on water resources management on agenda at Greater Mekong meetings in Yunnan

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra will attend this week’s 8th Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Summit and the 10th Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) Summit in Southwest China’s Yunnan province.

Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa will accompany Paetongtarn to the two-day event that begins on Wednesday in the provincial capital, Kunming.

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China is hosting and chairing the 8th GMS Summit, themed “Towards a Better Community Through Innovation-driven Development”. It will be the first physical GMS Summit since 2018.

During the summit, GMS leaders will endorse the Draft Joint Summit Declaration of the 8th GMS Summit and the GMS Innovation Strategy for Development 2030.

The meeting will also review annual achievements in GMS cooperation, especially the “early harvest” implementation of the GMS Cross-Border Transport Agreement, which came into force earlier this year.

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Current ACMECS Chair Laos will host the 10th ACMECS Summit, which is themed “Towards Seamless Connectivity for Mekong Sub-regional Integration.”

As the first in-person ACMECS Summit since 2020, the meeting will adopt the Vientiane Declaration of the 10th ACMECS Summit, which reflects the implementation progress under three main pillars of the ACMECS Master Plan (2019-23). It will also endorse New Zealand as a new ACMECS Development Partner.

In addition, the meeting will welcome Thailand’s proposal of the Concept Note on Water Resources Management in the Mekong Region to be incorporated as an additional annex of the ACMECS Master Plan.

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The proposal aims to enhance cooperation and increase effectiveness of water resources management among member countries along the Mekong River, which is known as the Lancang in China.

Contact the writer at yangwanli@chinadaily.com.cn