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14 - Cooperation in the Mekong Basin4. Cooperation to promote economic developmentUN-ESCAP, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, is theagency with the longest history of promoting economic development in the Mekong Region. Withan ambit far broader than just the Mekong, ESCAP was established in 1947 as the EconomicCommission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) to assist in post-war reconstruction. It serves countriesin the Asia Pacific Region, including all six Mekong Basin countries. Although ESCAP covers abroad territory, it has a long history of fostering cooperation in the Mekong Region, with ECAFEbeing instrumental in setting up the Mekong Committee and ESCAP establishing the AsianDevelopment Bank, an important contributor to Mekong Basin economic cooperation. 4Although ESCAP’s involvement inthe Mekong Basin declined in the1970s and 1980s, as did the work ofthe Mekong Committee, in the lastfew years, ESCAP has again hadbasin-oriented programmes. In 2000,at its annual Commission Session,ESCAP declared 2000-2009 theDecade of Greater Mekong SubregionDevelopment Co-operation.The goal of the decade is to drawattention to the region and encourageinternational support in intensifyingeconomic and social development inthe region. 5MRC’s Secretariat carries out the work of the Commission andprovides administrative and technical supportASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is another organisation that fosters economiclinkages in the Mekong Basin. Set up in 1967 to promote free-market principles and improve standardsof living, ASEAN includes all the countries in Southeast Asia. The original members of ASEANwere Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore. Brunei joined nearly 20 yearslater in 1984, Viet Nam in 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar in 1997, and Cambodia in 1999.In keeping with ASEAN’s focus on raising standards of living and closing the gap between theoriginal members and the newer (and poorer) ones, in 1996, ASEAN inaugurated the Basic Frameworkof ASEAN-Mekong Basin Development Cooperation (AMBDC). This framework lays out theobjectives and principles for cooperation, and also identifies infrastructure, trade and investmentactivities, agriculture, forestry and minerals, industry, tourism, human resource development, andscience and technology as priorities. It also seeks to complement the development initiatives ofother Mekong-related multilateral institutions. Several AMBDC meetings have been held since 1996and identified possible AMBDC projects, including the Singapore-Kunming Rail Link Project.Momentum for these projects lagged in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, but hasrecently increased again. Recent discussions have considered expanding AMBDC’s core membershipto include Japan and Korea. 6The largest of the programmes promoting regional economic cooperation in the Mekong area is theGreater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Economic Cooperation Programme. 7 This was established in1992 by the Asian Development Bank to realise and enhance development opportunities; encouragetrade and investment among GMS countries; resolve or mitigate cross-border problems; and meetcommon resource and policy needs. All four Lower Mekong Basin countries are members, as wellas Myanmar and Yunnan Province of China.287