Sino‑ Thai Strategic Economic Development in the Greater Mekong Subregion (1992– 2003)

Abstract

Introduction The Greater Mekong Subregional Economic Zone (GMS), so-called hexagonal economic was initiated by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 1992. According to the subregional economic zone concept, the GMS is categorized into a type of joint development of natural resources and infrastructure. (1) It began under the concept of cooperation in the subset of the countries that the Mekong River flows past: Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Yunnan Province of the People's Republic of China. Though a successful GMS would lead to economic development in the subregion, progress of the GMS projects has been very slow. Thus far, the GMS Ministerial Conferences have been held at least 12 times. The most recent one was held in Dali, Yurman Province, China in September 2003. In November 2002, the first GMS Summit was held before the ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, reflecting the fact that the member-states now bestow stronger representational importance to GMS projects. However, it is obvious that the 1997 Asian financial crisis retarded progress. Consequently, most GMS projects have not materialized, especially priority projects in the land transport sector. Within the GMS framework, Thailand and Yunnan province of China have attempted to play a leading role in pushing many GMS projects, especially economic cooperation in the North-South economic corridor linking Yunnan province and northern Thailand via Laos or Myanmar. Despite facing various obstacles, China and Thailand have agreed to assist Laos and Myanmar implement the land transport projects. At present, water transport on the Mekong River from China (Simao port) to Thailand (Chiang Saen port) is possible. After China, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos signed the navigation agreement, commercial navigation opened officially in June 2001. (2) In addition, there is a plan to construct a railway from Singapore to Kunming, which will facilitate much more trade transactions and the flow of peoples in the subregion in the future. This article provides an overview of the Greater Mekong Subregional Economic Zone, and elaborates the concept of the GMS economic corridor. Additionally, the article discusses China's and Thailand's national development strategies within the GMS. Included is an analysis of Sino-Thai cooperative projects in transport linkages. Lastly, the article mentions obstacles to Sino-Thai strategic economic development within the GMS. An Overview of the Greater Mekong Subregional Economic Zone Although the history of cooperation in the Mekong basin can be traced back to the establishment of the Mekong Committee (the present Mekong River Commission) in 1957, and other subsequent Mekong-concerned organizations, it has been suggested that the most comprehensive mechanism of Mekong subregional development at the present time is the ADB-initiated GMS programme, designed to serve the interests of the participating countries toward greater economic cooperation, facilitating subregional trade and investment, subregional development opportunities, and resolution of transborder issues. According to the ADB, the GMS comprises approximately 250 million people with an overall gross domestic product of about US$190 billion. (3) In the post-Cold War era, peace in the Mekong subregion and the GMS member-states' transition to the market-based economic systems have supported the strengthening of the sub-region's economic cooperation. Even though the GMS members were formally rivals, their willingness to open up their economies at present paves the way for subregional economic cooperation. It was inevitable that the end of the Cold War brought dramatic change in Southeast Asian international relations: the former centrally planned economies such as Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia have been reforming their economic systems as China had done in Deng Xiaoping's era (1978-97). …