ACMECS
At the special ASEAN Summit on SARS, held in
Bangkok on 29 April 2003, Thailand proposed the idea of establishing what was
then called the “Economic Cooperation Strategy, with leaders of Cambodia, Lao
PDR and Myanmar”. The objectives of this initiative are to bridge the
economic gap among the member countries, and to promote the sub-regional
prosperity withstanding diversified economic capabilities. This cooperation’s
framework will act as a building block and move ASEAN forward at a more even
pace, on the basis of self-reliance and shared prosperity.
During the summit held on 12 November 2003 in
Bagan, the Union of Myanmar, the four leaders adopted the Bagan Declaration, affirming
their commitment to cooperate and endorsed the Economic Cooperation Strategy
Plan of Action. The Leaders agreed to name
this newly created economic cooperation framework the “Ayeyawady-Chao
Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy or ACMECS”. Subsequently,
10 May 2004, Vietnam joined ACMECS.
There
was 8 working groups under ACMECS;
(1) Trade and Investment Facilitation (2) Public Health and Social Welfare
Development (3) Human Resource Development (4) Industrial and Energy
Cooperation (5) Tourism Cooperation (6) Transport Linkage (7) Agricultural
Cooperation and (8) Environment
ACMECS will act as a catalyst to
build upon existing regional cooperation programs and complement bilateral
frameworks with a view to transform the border areas of the five countries into
zones of economic growth, social progress and prosperity, and to blend local,
national and regional interests for common benefits, shared prosperity,
enhanced solidarity, peace, stability and good neighborliness.
ACMECS is remains a sub-region with
immense potential acting as a catalyst of Asia that propels regional and global
economic growth, given the sub-region’s high annual growth rate, vast market,
capable and productive human resources, and strategic location linking
economies and markets of the Indian and the Pacific Oceans as well as other
economies to mainland Asia and ASEAN.
At the 8th ACMECS Summit, held
on 16 June 2018, in Bangkok, the five leaders adopted the Bangkok Declaration. Furthermore,
Thailand proposed the concept of the ACMECS Master Plan which aims to optimizing
operational structure and utilizing ACMECS’ economic potentials to enhance its
inclusion into the regional and global supply and value chain.
The
ACMECS Master Plan comprising of three goals/pillars, namely
1. Seamless
ACMECS: promote seamless connectivity from
multi-modal transports links (roads, rails, bridges, ports, air, inland
waterway, and maritime connectivity) including but not limited to
infrastructures designed for sub-regional digital connectivity and energy
infrastructure interconnection. Special emphasis will be on filling all the
missing links in the sub-region, and the auxiliary connection lines linking
industrial parks and seaports to main corridor routes; complete the missing
railway links to enhance operations of sub-regional railway network,
particularly the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) and Southern Economic
Corridor (SEC).
2. Synchronized
ACMECS: promote software connectivity namely
i) Trade, Investment and Industrial Cooperation emphasizing on ACMECS policy
cooperation in the harmonization and simplification of rules and regulations to
facilitate movement of people, free flow of goods, services, and investment and
with a view to leveraging integrated value and supply chain of ACMECS and ii)
financial cooperation including the establishment of the ACMECS Fund and the
ACMECS Infrastructure Fund and Trust, promoting financial literacy, capital
market cooperation as well as financial connectivity such as payment and
settlement, use of local currency, Fintech and cooperation between banks and
other financial service providers.
3. Smart
and Sustainable ACMECS: promote the development of
human capital in strategic areas including entrepreneurship (MSMEs/Startups),
agriculture, tourism, medical services and education, while continue to promote
environmental cooperation including sustainable water resource management and
other strategic fields including agriculture, industry, tourism, health,
renewable energy, climate change, disaster-risk management, and natural
resources conservation.
ACMECS activities shall be: complementary to and
enhancing the existing bilateral and regional economic cooperation; deliverable
with tangible results, utilizing comparative advantages of each country;
feasible and acceptable to the countries concerned; and, undertaken on the
basis of voluntarism, consensus, and equitable sharing of benefits.
The Department of Foreign Trade (DFT), Ministry of
Commerce of Thailand, plays a pivotal role in the realization of Goal 2, “Synchronized
ACMECS”, a focal point and fostering cooperation. Moreover, the DFT chairs the Working Group on
Trade and Investment Facilitation (WGTIF), under goal 2, established in 2005.
The WGTIF comprising of 10 common projects and 48 bilateral projects.
Recently, the 10th ACMECS Summit
Meeting held in Kunming city in Yunnan province of China on 7 November 2024, hosted
by Lao PDR, which adopted the Vientiane Declaration and endeavors to enhance
competitiveness within border regions, stimulate economic development, and facilitate
the relocation of industries to optimize opportunities. The summit further aims
to generate employment, mitigate income disparities, and continuously promote
peace, stability, and equitable prosperity through sustainable development
initiatives.
Trade
and Investment Cooperation Division
Department of Foreign
Trade
December,
2024
