GMS countries’ environment ministers endorse 2nd 5-year environment cooperation

PHNOM PENH, July 28 (Xinhua) -- The Ministers of Environment of the six Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) countries on  Thursday endorsed the regional action plan 2012-2016 for environment cooperation to ensure balanced and sustainable economic  growth, according to a joint ministerial statement.
  The second five-year strategic plan on the Core Environment Program and Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative  (CEP-BCI) in the GMS countries will mainly focus on environmental planning systems, methods and safeguards; management of  trans-boundary biodiversity conservation landscapes and local livelihoods; climate resilient investments and low carbon  strategies; and institutions and financing for sustainable environmental management.
  “We expect that our efforts through the CEP-BCI 2012-2016 will further strengthen institutional and human resource capacity  which is key to achieving our vision of a poverty free and ecologically rich in GMS,” said the statement after the 3rd GMS  environment ministers’ meeting.
  “We encourage the development of a green, inclusive, and balanced economy in the GMS countries,” it said. “We welcome the  investments in agriculture, energy, tourism, transport sectors.”
  Cambodian Minister of Environment Mok Mareth said the GMS environment ministers are proposing around 26.5 million U.S.  dollars to implement the second phase action plan.
  “The plan is to protect and conserve our ecosystems and biodiversity in the GMS countries,” he said. “It is also to ensure the  sustainability of each country’s economic development.”
  The GMS countries consist of China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.