"The six GMS member countries are Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), Myanmar, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Thailand, and Viet Nam. In the PRC, the GMS includes the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Yunnan Province. With its 340 million people, vast array of landscapes, multitude of ethnic groups, and differing development histories and trajectories, the GMS is a diverse and dynamic region. However, the six countries also share many opportunities and challenges that transcend national boundaries. Economic integration, environmental sustainability, and adaptation to climate change are but a few examples. Recognizing that their combined efforts would have a greater development impact, the six countries launched the GMS Economic Cooperation Program in 1992. The Asian Development Bank was chosen to serve as the program’s secretariat. During its first decade, the GMS Program initiated activities slowly but steadily, focusing on a relatively small selection of energy and road infrastructure projects. The damaging Asian financial crisis of 1997 spurred the countries to strengthen their cooperation. In 2002, for example, a 10-year GMS Strategic Framework was endorsed by the national leaders at their first GMS summit. The countries committed themselves to a joint vision of an integrated, prosperous, and equitable subregion. This was to be achieved by enhancing connectivity, improving competitiveness, and building a strong sense of community (the “3 Cs”). During its second decade, the GMS Program made important progress in building roads and other “hard” infrastructure. Successful projects were also initiated in sectors such as agriculture, environment, trade facilitation, human resource development, and tourism. By 2012, GMS cooperation was well established across nine priority sectors, and the member countries embarked on a new and more ambitious 10-year strategy. The focus shifted firmly toward creating “economic corridors,” with a range of investments designed to leverage the transport infrastructure that had been built during the prior 2 decades. This new strategy also emphasized an increase in multisector investments, as well as policy and institutional reforms. A regional investment framework was then developed to identify country priorities and guide investments. Five years into this new strategy, and now a quarter century old, the maturing GMS Program continues to deliver significant results. More than $20 billion in investments have been directly channeled through the program since 1992. These have helped the GMS countries to diversify, strengthen, and integrate their economies. They have also significantly contributed..."