COMPREHENSIVE REPORT Provincial Consultative Workshops on Development of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Transport Information Connectivity System (GTICS) along the Economic Corridors (ECs) August - September, 2019 Venue: China, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam Supported by the Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Organized by Mekong Institute (MI) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Mekong Institute (MI), with the support of Government of P.R. China, is implementing the multi-year project on the Development of Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Transport Information Connectivity System (GTICS). As part of the project, MI conducted provincial consultative workshops on Development of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Transport Information Connectivity System (GTICS) at the selected border province on August - September, 2019 along the Economic Corridors. The provincial consultative workshop aimed to: (i) validate information category and information needed for development of GTICS, (ii) obtain local opinions on development strategy of GTICS, and (iii) form consensus on communication and data sharing mechanism between two bordering provinces. Total of two hundred and thirty – four (234) mid-senior representatives from the Provincial government agencies and private sectors attended the provincial consultative workshops at the selected border province. They represented Provincial Municipalities, Departments of Customs, Immigration, Land Transport and Commerce, Transport and Logistics Companies, Provincial Chamber of Commerce and Industries, and Special Economic Zones. Among them, one hundred and twenty-four (124) represented public sector, while one hundred and ten (110) were from private sector with gender ratio of one hundred and fifty – four (154) male and eighty (80) female respectively. Three key topics for group discussions were conducted and facilitated by the project team of MI in cooperation with all participants. Overall, the workshop participants validated information categories and information needs from provincial perspective and agreed as proposed. In addition, the participants suggested to add more information as followings; Geography information: it should include railway, airport, waterways, inland & sea ports and its facilities, locations of weight stations, parking area, resting areas, warehouse and traffic condition, security information for land and water transportation, route information, formal and informal routes including update road quality and bridge capacity, traffic information and new facilities and structures of new bridge construction. Public services: it should add truck terminals, customs and immigration procedure, international and temporary checkpoints for border trade and border crossing, cargo inspection stations (X-ray), tourist police stations, office for visa extension and weight of transported cargo, railway service and city hall administrative as supporting services and one stop service, focal agency or agencies or a center at the border, emergency contact information, border opening hours information and information of goods loaded streams. Private services information: it comprises of council of Trade and Tourism between the two provinces; industry zones; trading and dry port; types of import and export cargoes across the border checkpoints; business information; updated statistics about cross-border transport and trade activities; information of investment activities in SEZ and business activities that would be a promotion tool of the GTICS to attract logistics and transport users; list of cross-border transport operators including vehicle information, driver information; goods information should be updated and shared in the system; banking and insurance information for logistics and truck operators; and product supply. Legal information: Law and regulation for international trade and contact information of border control agencies and decision makers at provincial level; foreign driver information, insurance information, identity of driver (ID card, passport), importer license, company name and special mission of delegations, both business and governments; agreements on the cargo weight loading among the GMS countries; import-export regulations and disciplines; and update Vehicle Laws Revisions. P a g e 1 | 68 Information categories on users: Type of transport licenses/permits; Number of transport operators; Formal fees for transport license/permit; Types of registered vehicles; Vehicle information on classify the registered vehicles by types, Types of vehicle plat number, procedure for vehicle registration, size of vehicles, number of registered vehicle per year, vehicle tax payment, vehicle inspection, insurance, weight limitation and vehicle brand; Social media contact such as Lines, Telegram, WhatApp, etc.; Insurance information of vehicles; Inspection of cargo and people at non-international border checkpoints; Opening hours at the border gates for import – export cargo; Banking and insurance information for logistics and truck operators; Source of information: Provincial Government Office for general information; Land Transport Department for cross-border transport information, traffic information, road sign, condition etc.; National Transport Facilitation Committee especially for information about IICBTA; Provincial Chamber of Commerce and Industries and logistics association; Central Government Department including Bank of Thailand; ADB and UN source for other regional information and update information; Customs Department, Department of Transport, NTFC for IICBTA procedures; Local banks and insurance companies for banking and insurance information and other private facility information; Useful websites such as Myanmar Trade Portal.. Consensus on communication mechanism ▪ In general, the committee has frequent meetings for the cross-border issues as well as security issues in the area. Border Committee constituted with provincial government agencies, immigration, police and security force along with the customs and ministry of commerce from both sides. In addition, same department from each border province conducted a meeting and share information such as customs department. ▪ Communicate via email, telephone, social networks, e.g. Line, Telegram; ▪ Creating the hotline, GPS, Internet Roaming or social network group between border provinces. ▪ Communication between province and province by conducting regular (monthly) meeting on visions of both province; ▪ Communication should be done through provincial administration office & international cooperation department. ▪ Regular Border Coordinating Meetings or Workshops: it was suggested by both groups and it was also noted that the GTICS team can facilitate those workshops as a part of the GTICS platform. Data sharing mechanism ▪ Identify focal person/group for information sharing between the two provinces; ▪ Conduct regular meeting and workshop; ▪ Organize workshops, study visits, knowledge sharing to understand regulations, transport & logistics, business, import & export, tourism of each country; ▪ Sharing information on single window and one stop service; ▪ Organize business linkage forum and set up data sharing center and free trade zone including provide a training to IT staff related to the GTIC. ▪ Private sectors from both sides meet and coordinate via CCI monthly or quarterly meetings or occasional meetings. ▪ Twin city center through MOU. It’s a channel to meet each other and share information related with cross border activities. ▪ Both border provinces require focal agency or committee that is able to cooperate with MI GTICS teams and concerned agencies of each side of each country. Main tasks of the committee are to collect update information, verify and upload them in the system on behalf of both sides and MI GTICS team; ▪ The two border provinces need to share the common database. ▪ Need a regularly review meeting conducted in English and Vietnamese. P a g e 2 | 68 Data Collection and Inputs ▪ Establish central data center and committee for collecting, storing, updating and management; ▪ MI takes care of the data center, form a team to coordinate with the target countries and updates information every month; ▪ MI works as administrative center, and communicate with government agencies and private sector for collecting data and relevant information; ▪ MI team should collaborate with the local stakeholder in terms of data collection and updating information as required. ▪ The GTICS website should be simple and user friendly with attractive logo. ▪ MI team should collaborate with the local stakeholders in terms of data collection and updating information as required. Translation ▪ GTICS website should use GMS countries and English; ▪ All document translation should be formally done by Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ▪ Agencies from both provinces can share the related GTICS information as requested and needed and update it accordingly. Some documents will be available in translated version that can be uploaded in the GTICS platform. Information for private sectors can be collected from the local CCI and associations and similarly public information from public sectors. Updating and Sharing ▪ Regularly updating the transportation, enterprise information, import-export regulations and disciplines; ▪ Giving the information of import-export services, the state and provincial policies, and common products in certain periods, or seasons that involved to the border trading corridor. ▪ Each concerned organization shall provide