MI Executive Director Dr. Watcharas Leelawath explained that the joint forum’s foregrounding of logistics against the broader subject of GMS connectivity is timely and relevant especially as Thailand’s Chairmanship of the ASEAN this year gives particular focus on fostering increased connectivity in Southeast Asia.
“It is also part of MI’s work to foster connectivity within the GMS,” he added. MI, a regional intergovernmental organization in Khon Kaen, provides human resource capacity building programs to facilitate regional cooperation and integration. MI has been offering freight and logistics training programs with the support of a number of development partners since 2014.
The Forum was attended by 300-strong crowd comprised of regional experts and development practitioners, academics, government officials and business and civil society representatives. It shared insights on the current state as well as future prospects of the sub-region’s logistics industry as a valuable driver of connectivity, inclusiveness and sustainability among the sub-region’s six countries.
The transport and logistics sector in the GMS remains an integral component of the sub-region’s economic development. The expansion of road networks, railways as well as improvements in waterways and air transport have significantly contributed to inter-GMS trade in the past decades. Besides panel discussants from logistics companies and service providers as well as government and public sector authorities in logistics and trade also offered ideas on how to further build the competitiveness of the region’s logistics industry./.
By Ngan Ha
