Thailand to go ahead with infrastructure development connecting to GMS

BANGKOK, October 5 (TNA) - Thailand will go ahead with basic infrastructure development projects in order to connect them with those in other member countries of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS). Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra announced the policy when opening an international conference on "Thailand's opportunities and challenges in the development of GMS member countries", acknowledging that the GMS, comprising Myanmar, Lao, Cambodia, Vietnam and Yunnan province in southern China and Thailand, is a key networking and development component of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, as all GMS members, except Yunnan, are also ASEAN member states. Yingluck pointed out, for instance, after Myanmar has opened its door for multi-national investment, the move has attracted more international investment projects into the GMS as a whole, which has supported the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015. Yingluck noted that Thailand, situated in the centre of the region, should also play an important role in connecting regional transportation and investment and the Kingdom has, therefore, focused on further developing its basic infrastructure projects, worth up to some 90 billion US dollars, covering those on short-term and long-term water management and cross-border high-speed train systems linking with regional neighbours. According to the prime minister, Thailand is also joining such other mega-development projects in the region, namely the Dawei deep seaport in Myanmar to connect to the Laem Chabang deep seaport in Thailand's eastern Chonburi province, along with promoting the development of capital markets in the GMS through a regional basic infrastructure fund, aimed to strengthen and sustain regional development in the long run. (TNA)