ASEAN Enlargement: Impacts & Implications

6. The Greater Mekong Subregion: Co-operation in Infrastructure and Finance

128 Mya Than and George Abonyi© 2001 Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore 128 6 The Greater Mekong Subregion: Co-operation in Infrastructure and Finance MYA THAN and GEORGE ABONYI PART I Introduction The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) is one of the most recent Growth Triangles (GT) to be established in Southeast Asia. The main objective of the GMS is to jointly develop natural resources and infrastructure by exploiting geopolitical interest and geographical proximity for the development of the Mekong basin subregion. It comprises the Yunnan province of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), where the 4,200-kmlong mighty Mekong river has its source, and the five countries (Myanmar, Lao People’s Democratic Republic [PDR] or Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam) through which it passes before it enters the South China Sea (see map). With the length of the waterway of the Mekong within Yunnan being 2,130 km, 31 km within Myanmar, 789 km within Laos, 490 km within Cambodia and 230 km within Vietnam, it is Southeast Asia’s most substantial single water resource. The Mekong accounts for 31 km of the border between the PRC and Myanmar, 235 km between Myanmar and the Lao PDR, and 975 km between the Lao PDR and Thailand. It is interesting to note that along the Mekong, the political and natural borders coincide for about 1,600 km (Prachoon 1995). About 475 trillion cubic metres of the Mekong’s water flow through the Mekong Delta into the South China Sea. ISEAS DOCUMENT DELIVERY SERVICE. No reproduction without permission of the publisher: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 30 Heng Mui Keng Terrace, SINGAPORE 119614. FAX: (65)7756259; TEL: (65) 8702447; E-MAIL: publish@iseas.edu.sg The Greater Mekong Subregion 129© 2001 Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore M e k o n g R i v e r M e k o n g R i v e r S U M ATR A L A O V I E T N A M HAINAN Straits of M alacca Gulf of Martaban Andaman Sea Gulf of Siam Vientiane M Y A N M A R T H A I L A N D C A M B O D I A SINGAPORE Yangon Bangkok Phnom Penh Hanoi Kuala Lumpur PENINSULAR MALAYSIA Ho Chi Minh City Gulf of Tongkin C H I N A P D R SOUTH CHINA SEA 130 Mya Than and George Abonyi© 2001 Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore The aim of this chapter is to study the extent of co-operation in infrastructure development and financing of development projects possible in the GMS in the light of the implications of five out of the six riparian countries joining ASEAN. This chapter is divided into two parts. In Part I, the first section briefly presents the background history of the development of cooperation initiatives in the Mekong basin together with the salient economic and social indicators of the subregion. The second and third sections examine co-operation among the participating countries in infrastructural development and financing of development projects. Co-operation from multilateral as well as bilateral initiatives, including the United Nations (UN) agencies, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the European Union (EU), and some East Asian countries are also discussed. In addition, the participation of the private sector in developing the GMS is addressed. As Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia have recently joined ASEAN, the implications and impact of their ASEAN membership are highlighted in the fourth section. Finally, the issues of regional and international co-operation in infrastructural development and financing of the GMS development projects are discussed. History and Initiatives of Co-operation in the Greater Mekong Subregion The history of the Mekong is the history of its six riparian countries: the mighty Mekong served as the boundary line between these riparian countries long before borders were established by French and British colonialists in the first half of the nineteenth century. Throughout history, as riparian states, war and peace alternated over time across the Mekong river. In times of peace, they traded with one another, and with mountain passes, the Mekong served as a trade route. The history of these six riparian countries, therefore, is a history of war, peace and trade among themselves across the Mekong. In brief, the GMS has a long history of both conflict and co-operation. The first formal...