Mekong Region: China-Thailand Road Due in 2011

MANILA - Senior officials of several Mekong countries agreed today to build a bridge across the Mekong River that will connect the south-western Yunnnan province of China directly to Bangkok, Thailand by road.

The bridge, which will be financed by the governments of China and Thailand, is scheduled for completion in 2011 and will cross the Mekong River at Chiang Khong, in northern Thailand, and
Houayxay, in Lao PDR.

It is the final link in a north-south road system through the Mekong region under development plans by nations in the area and the Asian Development Bank (AsDB) for more than a decade.

"When this vital bridge is completed, it will be possible for the first time to travel by land directly from Yunnan, People's Republic of China, through Lao PDR to Thailand, opening up tremendous potential for increased trade, tourism, and further integration of the Mekong region," said ADB Vice President C Lawrence Greenwood Jr.

The signing of the agreement by Greater Mekong Subregion ministers from China, Laos and Thailand to build the bridge came at the end of the 14th Greater Mekong Subregion Ministerial Conference here at the AsDB headquarters from Jun. 19 to 21.

The AsDB has been the lead supporter of the Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Programme since it began in 1992. Since then, the Bank says, the area has grown into one of the fastest-growing regions in the world, with average Gross Domestic Product growth of about 6 percent in recent years.

"Fifteen years of fruitful partnerships and solid achievements are something to be proud of," said Greenwood. "The Greater Mekong Subregion Programme sends a very powerful message: that cooperation and joint action among neighbours works."

In December 2006, the Japan-funded Second Mekong International Bridge opened at the Mukdahan-Savannakhet border between Thailand and Laos. It completes the East-West Economic Corridor - a 1,500 kilometre stretch of upgraded roads that cuts across four of the six Mekong countries.

Other projects are the start of work on two Bank-assisted major railway links in Cambodia and Vietnam, and the finalisation and signing of agreements on the cross-border transport of goods and people.

In addition, the Bank said the region will soon see the completion of Phase 1 of the Information Superhighway Network consisting of optical fiber backbone connections.

Exports of the Mekong countries quadrupled from 37 billion U.S. dollars in 1992 to 182 billion dollars in 2006. Annual tourist arrivals more than doubled from 10 million in 1995 to over 22 million in 2006. Foreign direct investment into the Mekong region increased from about 3 billion dollars in 1992 to about 7 billion dollars in 2005.

The June conference also considered the results of a midterm review of the Bank's Greater Mekong Subregion programme's 10-year strategy from 2002 to 2012. (Source: Asian Development Bank, Jun. 21, 2007)