by Lia Sciortino
Mekong Currents
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This is a monthly column on Mekong issues, written by Rosalia Sciortino* and distributed by
IPS Asia-Pacific. It is accessible through this page and Asian Eye(www.ipsnewsasia.net).
Revealing Development Undertones
Mekong CurrentsBANGKOK, Mar 3 - Policymakers and development planners in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) may not think of artists as partners in their development efforts. Many may quickly dismiss the suggestion that artists have a role to play in envisioning development models, promoting understanding about the needs of different populations, and identifying solutions to development problems. There is also little appreciation for the social and cultural dimensions that they add to an otherwise technical and economic model of development.
Creating a Mekong Community
Mekong CurrentsBANGKOK, Jan 25 - In envisioning an integrated Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), the governments of the six riparian countries and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) regard the "connecting of nations" as contributing to the "linking of people" and vice-versa.
Drugs: From Golden Past to Crystalline Future
Mekong Currents | Trafficking | Mekong RegionBANGKOK, Sep 20 - Recently, Philipp Borgs, a student of mine at the South-east Asia Studies Masters’ Programme of Chulalongkorn University, submitted a term paper on drug smuggling in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS).
Laos in Transit from Landlocked to Land-linked
Mekong Currents | Infrastructure | LaosBANGKOK, Jul 19 - Regional development plans in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) are grounded in the building of an extensive infrastructural structure that integrates all its countries into an unique ”growth area”. A network of transnational roads and, to a lesser extent, rail routes that links transport systems, power grids and markets across and beyond the sub-region is meant to facilitate fuller participation of GMS countries in the regional and global economy by enhancing their competitiveness as an economic bloc.
Previous Columns
*Rosalia Sciortino, better known as Lia, is a cultural anthropologist and development sociologist by training, who is currently working in Thailand as Associate Professor at the Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, and Visiting Professor at the Masters in International Development Studies at Chulalongkorn University. Before that, she was Regional Director of the Rockefeller Foundation Office for Southeast Asia in Bangkok, overseeing grant-making activities in the Greater Mekong Sub-region. She also worked with the Ford Foundation in Indonesia and the Philippines, and has published widely on development issues. A native of Italy, she has lived in Asia for nearly two decades.