SYMPOSIUM TO DISCUSS DEVELOPMENT OF GREATER MEKONG SUBREGION
Press Release
REC/34
SYMPOSIUM TO DISCUSS DEVELOPMENT OF GREATER MEKONG SUBREGION
19990309 BANGKOK, 9 March (UN Information Service) -- "Government-private sector partnership" in the development of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) will be the focus of an upcoming international symposium scheduled to take place in Bangkok on 7-8 April 1999.The "Symposium on the Comprehensive Development of the Greater Mekong Subregion" will focus on private sector perspectives on the globalization of manufacturing/regional operations and foreign direct investment in the GMS. It will emphasize trade, investment, private sector development and human resources development of the subregion. The Symposium is also expected to strengthen cooperation among the participating countries with a view to providing more effective assistance to the subregion.
The two-day Symposium, with financial assistance from the Government of Japan, is being organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Royal Thai Government and the Thai Chamber of Commerce. The main purpose of the Symposium is to heighten international awareness and to find comprehensive strategies to promote trade and investment activities in the Greater Mekong Subregion.
Recognizing the important role of the private sector as an engine of growth, the emerging economic challenges exacerbated by the recent Asian economic crisis and the changing needs of the GMS countries, the Symposium will facilitate exchange of views of various organizations to promote private sector activities in and around the subregion.
The Symposium will be attended by senior policy makers and high-level private sector representatives including leading multinational manufacturers and six national chambers of commerce and industry from the GMS, Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. Other participants will include renowned academics, representatives from intergovernmental and international organizations, such as the ASEAN secretariat, the Mekong River Commission and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and non-governmental organizations, as well as mass media.
For more information, please contact Ravi Sawhney, Director, International Trade and Economic Cooperation Division, ESCAP, Bangkok, Thailand (Telephone: 66-2-288-1410 or 288-1437, Fax: 66-2-288-1026 or 288-1027; or e-mail: trade_inf.unescap@un.org). * *** *