Written by Mekong Institute  

With support from the ASEAN China Cooperation Fund, the Mekong Institute implemented the one-year project on ”Enhancing Provincial and Local Chambers of Commerce Capacities in Trade and Investment Facilitation along the GMS North-South Economic Corridor (R3A & R3B)” from July 2014 to June 2015. The project comprised of three components with series of capacity development activities, which included two modular trainings on ‘Business Research and Information Management’ and ‘Trade and Events Promotion’, and one ‘structured learning visit cum business matching’. A synthesis and evaluation workshop was conducted in May 2015 to evaluate the project results and to assess possibility of another phase of the NSEC project.  
The aim of the project is to promote business linkage and information network among members of provincial and local Chambers of Commerce and Industries (CCI) and Business Associations (BAs) along the North-South Economic Corridor – Route 3A and 3B (NSEC R3A&B). The NSEC connects four Mekong countries namely Yunnan Province of P.R. China, Myanmar, Lao PDR and Thailand. The ultimate goal of this project is to support inclusive and more equitable development on the NSEC. With regard to performance against the annual plan, all scheduled activities from July 2014- June 2015 have been implemented and the objective has been achieved.