Trade facilitation of agri-food products can potentially reduce trade barriers, lower transaction costs, foster efficiency along the supply chains, and reduce poverty in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). A comprehensive analysis of a range of policy options that influence trade behaviors of selected agri-food products in the GMS will help policy makers in their decision making. This agriculture trade facilitation plan lays out systematic ways to increase movement and flow of agri-food products and their impacts on the GMS sector. It proposes that the GMS adopt a cluster approach to trade facilitation and develop itself into regional hubs of agri-food trade.

This book presents research into the production of safe, high-quality, and environmentally friendly agriculture products in the Greater Mekong Subregion. It also explores the actions and policy options that could be pursued. Three themes are examined: Improving Food Safety and Quality; Inclusive and Sustainable, Safe and Environment-Friendly Agriculture Products; and Value Chains for Safe and Environment-Friendly Agriculture Products. This aligns with the ASEAN Economic Community blueprint, which calls for the creation of a single market and production base for food, agriculture, forestry; and integration of the region into the global economy.

The economic corridor approach was adopted by the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries in 1998 to help accelerate subregional development. The development of economic corridors links production, trade, and infrastructure within a specific geographic area. The review of these corridors was conducted to take into account the opening up of Myanmar and ensure that there is a close match between corridor routes and trade flows; GMS capitals and major urban centers are connected to each other; and the corridors are linked with maritime gateways. The review came up with recommendations for possible extension and/or realignment of the corridors, and adoption of a classification system for corridor development. The GMS Ministers endorsed the recommendations of the study at the 21st GMS Ministerial Conference in Thailand in 2016.

The Greater Mekong Subregion Cross-Border Transport Facilitation Agreement (GMS CBTA) Instruments and Drafting History is a compendium of agreements, instruments of accessions, and memoranda of understanding forged between the GMS countries and compiles in one publication all the documents that form the CBTA instrument. It reflects previous policy dialogues, including outcomes of negotiations between various government agencies from the GMS countries since the inception of the CBTA. This publication aims to strengthen stakeholders' understanding of the technical aspects of the CBTA as well as to draw attention to the crucial issues on transport and trade facilitation.

Since the 1990s, regional organizations of the United Nations and international financial institutions have adopted a new dynamic of transnational integration, within the framework of the regionalization process of globalization. In place of the growth triangles of the 1970s, a strategy based on transnational economic corridors has changed the scale of regionalization.

This series features the scholarly works supported by the Phnom Penh Plan for Development Management, a region-wide capacity building program of the Asian Development Bank that supports knowledge products and services. It seeks to disseminate research results to a wider audience so that policy makers, implementers, and other stakeholders in the Greater Mekong Subregion can better appreciate and understand the breadth and depth of the region's development challenges.