This report explains the complex challenges facing the six countries in the renewables-rich Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) as they work to implement a comprehensive framework to enable regional electricity power trading. Against the backdrop of energy market volatility, it details how ADB is helping high-voltage electricity network operators reach a deal on interconnections which could unlock extensive economic benefits for each GMS country. Acknowledging a transparent power-sharing regime is still some way off, it provides a road map to help countries overcome infrastructural challenges and political concerns to build a fully synchronized GMS transmission network.

This publication is a historical summary of progress made in energy cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) since the beginning of the economic cooperation program in 1992. It highlights a two-pronged and phased approach to develop the GMS power market to realize the full benefits of synchronous operations---the policy and institutional framework to promote power trade and the physical interconnection to facilitate cross-border power transfers. This publication aims to help stakeholders understand GMS members' efforts in power cooperation and to draw attention to crucial issues on regional power trade.

The six countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) are striving to ensure an adequate, reliable, sustainable, and affordable energy supply for all their citizens. Toward this, the GMS countries have identified power trading as a priority for regional cooperation. However, such trading currently represents less than 2% of electricity consumed in the GMS. This publication examines the regulatory and commercial barriers that are preventing a greater uptake of power trading in the region and identifies the key measures needed to overcome them.

The large market size and abundant resources of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), including a large, motivated and cheap workforce, a rich agricultural base, extensive timber and fisheries resources, considerable potential mineral resources, and vast energy resources have seen the subregion increasingly recognized as a new frontier of Southeast Asian economic strength. This book aims to assess the recent economic, social and political developments in the GMS and identify emerging opportunities and challenges facing the successful transition towards a market-driven economy. The countries of the GMS are at a critical juncture where subregional efforts and cooperation must be made to fully address the rapidly evolving issues that are vital to appropriate policy formation, yet which remain widely debatable. The deliberations here shed light on the development stages and offer policy recommendations for pushing forward subregional cooperation.