Thailand outlines action plans for ACMECS sub-regional bloc

The Thai government approved on Tuesday a set of action plans for an Indochinese sub-regional bloc to carry out in pursuit of shared and sustainable peace, stability and economic prosperity.

The Thai cabinet under Lady Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra endorsed the action plans for five countries which have organized the so-called Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) to jointly implement from 2013 until 2015, said deputy government spokesman Pakdeeharn Himathongkham.

The ACMECS member states include Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand.

Besides, the Yingluck cabinet has prepared a draft for a formal declaration on a sub-regional cooperation strategy, which includes those action plans and is to be endorsed by top leaders of the sub- region's member states during a fifth ACMECS meeting, which will be held in Bangkok later this year, he said.

Under the three-year action plans, the five ACMECS member states will promote and expand several areas of cooperation toward sub-regional logistics development in support of bilateral trade and investment, agricultural, industrial and energy resources development, multilateral tourism development, human resources development, public health services and environmental protection, according to the deputy government spokesman.

Set up a decade ago under an initiative of former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra, the globetrotting brother of Yingluck's, the ACMECS organization has already adopted dozens of multilateral action plans plus over 200 bilateral action plans. The bloc was focused on the creating of shared and sustainable peace, stability and prosperity throughout the Southeast Asian sub-region.

It practically remains independent of the 10-nation ASEAN bloc, scheduled to become an ASEAN Economic Community in 2015. The five ASEAN member states not involved with the ACMECS bloc are the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei.