The six nations sharing the Mekong River signed in Vientiane on Monday a memorandum of understanding on the road-map for implementing the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) cross-border power trading.

Ministers from the six nations – Laos, China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Thailand – inked the deal on cross-border power trade that is expected to enhance supply reliability, slash investment and operating costs, offer access to cheaper power sources and lower greenhouse gas emissions resulting from substituting oil-fired with hydroelectric plants.

The six countries inked the Inter-governmental Agreement on Regional Power Trade on the occasion of the first GMS Summit in 2002 in Cambodia, stating their specific commitments to advance power trade and harmonize their power systems development with interconnection.

Also on Monday, ministers from the six Mekong countries signed another memorandum of understanding toward the sustainable and balanced development of the GMS North-South Economic Corridor and enhanced organizational effectiveness for developing economic corridors in the sub-region.

During the third GMS Summit in Laos' Vientiane from March 30-31, the prime ministers of the six countries and representatives from the Asian Development Bank agreed with plans on transforming transport corridors into economic ones, developing power interconnection systems and telecommunications networks, improving infrastructure links, and facilitating the cross-border movement of goods and services.

The leaders also agreed that the fourth GMS Summit will be held in Myanmar in 2011.

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.

(Xinhua News Agency March 31, 2008)