Leaders from the six Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) nations vowed in Vientiane on Monday to enhance closer cooperation among local governments and business sectors of GMS countries.

In the Joint Summit Declaration signed at the third GMS summit held in the capital city of Laos, leaders of the six countries sharing the Mekong River recognized the need to generate wider support as well as additional financial resources to implement the Plan of Action.

According to the joint declaration, the six countries of GMS, which include Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, will enhance close cooperation among local governments and business sectors of GMS countries in promoting trade, investment, tourism, and other areas of socioeconomic development.

They will also enhance resource mobilization efforts for priority GMS projects, the declaration said.

Leaders of the six countries gathered here for their third summit meeting scheduled for March 30-31 to discuss ways to deepen economic cooperation for their countries' shared prosperity.

Since 1992, GMS countries have embarked on a program of economic cooperation which aims to promote development through closer economic links.

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)