Hanoi (VNA) – With financial aid fromthe Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other sponsors, the Greater MekongSubregion (GMS) Economic Cooperation Programme has supported the region tocarry out a number of priority projects with notable outcomes recorded in thefield of transport. In 2009, theHanoi – Lao Cai expressway with a total length of 264 km and investment of 1.2billion USD sourced from the ADB was considered a strategic part of the Kunming– Lao Cai – Hanoi – Hai Phong road corridor and the cooperation programmebetween the six GMS countries namely Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmarand China. The expressway is not only important to localities where it runsthrough but also the whole north-western region. Meanwhile,the Noi Bai – Lao Cai expressway, the longest of its kind in Vietnam, was putinto operation in September 2014 as part of the North – South economiccorridor, helping reduce traveling time from seven hours to three hours andfacilitating goods transport. Theexpressway has contributed to making significant economic changes in Vietnam’snorthern localities and China’s southern region through increasing trade andinvestment exchanges and tourism. The ADB also supportedthe establishment of the southern economic corridor linking cities and towns inthe southern GMS region and the East – West economic corridor spanning 1,320 kmfrom Da Nang port in the eastern coast of Vietnam to the coast of the IndianOcean in Myanmar. GMS wasestablished in 1992 as an initiative of the ADB. The GMS Cooperation Programmeis the most complete cooperation programme that involves Vietnam, Laos,Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, and China’s Yunnan and Guangxi provinces. Theprogramme prioritizes infrastructure development, energy, telecommunication,tourism, trade-investment, human resources, and environment. To realisethe common goal of turning the GMS into a prosperous, integrated and harmoniousregion, leaders of the GMS countries approved a 10-year strategic framework atthe fourth GMS Summit in the Philippines in 2011, making it a foundation forGMS cooperation orientations from 2012 to 2022 to boost regional andextra-regional integration and cooperation. Vietnam isscheduled to host the sixth GMS Summit and the 10th Summit ofCambodia – Laos – Vietnam (CLV) Development Triangle in Hanoi from March 29-31with a view to boosting regional economic links.-VNA