大湄公河次区域经济合作简介
2005-08-30

大湄公河次区域经济合作（ＧＭＳ）建立在平等、互信、互利的基础上，是一个发展中国家互利合作、联合自强的机制，也是一个通过加强经济联系，促进次区域经济社会发展的务实的机制。其合作形式是以项目为主导，根据次区域成员的实际需要提供资金和技术支持。大湄公河次区域涉及流域内的６个国家有中国、缅甸、老挝、泰国、柬埔寨和越南。这块面积２３０万平方公里的区域有人口２亿３千多万，自然资源丰富，是极具开发潜力的地区之一。
亚洲开发银行是大湄公河次区域经济合作的协调方，负责筹措各类资金和提供各种技术援助。截止２００２年１１月，亚行已动员各类资金约２０亿美元，直接贷款为７．７２亿美元，提供各类援助超过５６００万美元。１０年来，大湄公河次区域经济合作在交通、能源、电讯、环境、旅游、人力资源开发、贸易便利化和投资等８个重点领域开展了近１００个项目的合作。２００１年第１０次部长级会议通过了《大湄公河次区域经济合作未来１０年战略框架》，提出了建设重要交通走廊、电信骨干网、电力联网与投资、贸易、旅游等１１大标志性项目。
领导人会议是大湄公河次区域经济合作的最高级会议。自１９９２年由亚洲开发银行倡议发起大湄公河次区域经济合作以来，部长级会议每年举行一次，下设专题论坛和工作组。
２００２年１１月３日，首次领导人会议在柬埔寨首都金边举行。与会６国领导人总结了过去１０年取得的成就和成功经验，确认了未来１０年的合作前景及承诺，进一步加强了６国伙伴关系。朱镕基总理出席会议并作了主旨发言，敦促湄公河各国加强合作，发挥各自优势，加快经济增长步伐。会议发表了联合宣言并决定，今后每３年在成员国轮流举行一次大湄公河次区域领导人会议。会后，有关国家签署了《大湄公河次区域便利运输协定》谅解备忘录、《大湄公河次区域便利运输协定》中方加入书和《大湄公河次区域政府间电力贸易协定》。
About GMS

Resources
Combined, the lands of the GMS cover about 2.3 million square kilometers. It is a vast area of enormous wealth and variety of natural resources, including a rich agricultural base-timber and fisheries-minerals, and energy in the form of hydropower and coal and petroleum reserves.
These resources fuel economic development and support rural livelihoods in an interrelated fashion. Water from the Mekong River supports agriculture, and its fish yields are a source of both protein and income. It can also be used to generate electricity and as transport corridors.
Forests in the Mekong region
protect hydropower projects and agriculture from siltation and soil erosion
contribute to tourism potential
provide subsistence to rural communities in the form of food, medicinal plants, fuelwood, and other nontimber products.
People
About 250 million people live with the GMS region. The great majority of these people live in rural areas where they lead subsistence or semisubsistence agricultural lifestyles. More than 75 percent of the population of Lao PDR, for example, is rural and even in Thailand, the most urbanized of the Mekong countries, there remain large agricultural communities, particularly in the north and northeastern parts of the country.
Challenges
While traditional lifestyles and deep-rooted customs and beliefs have been scarcely altered by time, the area is now undergoing greater change than ever before. With the onset of peace in the 1990s, the peoples of the Mekong are experiencing rapid changes and improvements in their living standards and conditions.
Increasingly, modernization and industrialization are emerging from a process of transition and transformation. The Mekong countries are gradually shifting from subsistence farming to more diversified economies, and to more open, market-based systems. In parallel with this are the growing commercial relations among the six Mekong countries, notably in terms of cross-border trade, investment, and labor mobility. Moreover, natural resources, particularly hydropower, are beginning to be developed and utilized on a subregional basis.
The rich human and natural resource endowments of the Mekong region have made it a new frontier of Asian economic growth. Indeed, the Mekong region has the potential to be one of the world"s fastest growing areas.
Yet, still much of its remains poor. The gross domestic product per capita is about $1 a day in most of the region. Despite significant economic growth, poverty is still widespread. The challenges include
the disparities between urban and rural communities
a growing gap between rich and poor
inadequate attention to the special needs of ethnic minorities
gender inequities, lack of access to basic health and education
inadequate protection of the environment on which traditional livelihoods depend
Clearly, the full potential of the Mekong countries can be realized only if the problem of poverty is adequately addressed.