Greater Mekong Subregion Cooperation in Hydropower Development and Power Interconnection: Potentials, Challenges and Progress

The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) cooperation mechanism was initiated in 1992, and is comprised of Cambodia, the People's Republic of China, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. Originally, Yunnan Province of China was the only area inside China participating in the GMS cooperation. The Guangxi Ethnic Zhuang Autonomous Region of China later joined the framework of GMS cooperation in 2005. Including Guangxi, the GMS covers an area of around 2.5 million km² and in 2004 had a total population of over 300 million.