Mr. Madhurjya Kumar Dutta, Director of the Trade and Investment Facilitation Department, joined the consultation meeting for the new Regional Cooperation and Integration (RCI) Operational Plan 2019-2030 hosted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on October 29, 2018 in Bangkok. The RCI is one of ADB’s seven operational priority areas in its long-term Strategy 2030.  

The meeting aimed to review the emerging RCI trends in Asia and the Pacific, and provide assessments on important RCI area and issues, as well as set out a comprehensive approach to RCI strategic operational planning under Strategy 2030. Mr. Dutta, representing Mekong Institute in the roundtable discussions, stressed the importance of capacity building with reference to the Greater Mekong Sub-region in the areas of trade facilitation, digital business and green business particularly in the transport and logistics sector.

The meeting was attended by other relevant organizations including the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office, BIMSTEC Secretariat, CAREC Institute, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), International Economics and Finance Institute, Government of P.R. China, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, PIFS Research and Information System for Developing Countries RIS.