Leaders attending the third GMS summit pledged in Vientiane on Monday to issue more sound economic policies, implement regulatory and institutional frameworks, and further liberalize, harmonize and streamline trade and investment regimes in the subregion.

Prime ministers of the six countries sharing the Mekong River – Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam – gathered in Vientiane for the summit meeting held on March 30-31 to discuss ways to deepen economic cooperation for their countries' shared prosperity.

In the Joint Summit Declaration signed on Monday, the leaders urged their ministers to expedite the implementation of the GMS Cross-Border Transport Agreement (CBTA) and the regional and national action plans of the GMS Strategic Framework for Action on Trade Facilitation and Investment (SFA-TFI).

They promised to make greater efforts to create a conducive and competitive environment for trade, investment and private sector development, since they are vital for transforming sub-regional transport corridors into economic ones.

The six countries in 1992 kicked off their GMS Program which involves planning and implementing sub-regional projects in nine areas: transport, energy, telecommunications, tourism, environment, human resource development, agriculture, trade facilitation, and private investment.

The First GMS Summit was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in November 2002, while the Second GMS Summit was held in Kunming, China in July 2005.

(Xinhua News Agency March 31, 2008)