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.

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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.

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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 information to MI.

System Management ▪ For updating, system management, GTICS promotion, platform construction and long-term maintenance should be done by MI who initiated the project; ▪ It was suggested that the GTICS team should form a provincial team that can facilitate system management and GTICS promotion as needed in the provincial level; ▪ The authorized private contractor can be hired and assigned for system maintenance and management and even for the system promotion under the close guidance of MI GTICS team and the admins in charge for each country; ▪ The admins or focal person of each country can coordinate with concerned departments to verify information or assist them in uploading data, information and documents in the system. ▪ Proposed to assign the Trade Promoting Center in charge of controlling and managing the data.

GTICS Promotion at Provincial Level ▪ Share schedule of planned events and activities; ▪ GTICS promotion should be done by MI. ▪ Agreed to maintain and promote the GTICS at provincial level.

The provincial consultative workshop was conducted in a highly interactive atmosphere with the facilitation of MI’s project team. Significant information and feedbacks from group discussions were achieved and met the objectives and expected outcomes of the workshop. The representatives from selected border provinces were highly interested and supported the project activities and intervention through development of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Transport Information Connectivity System (GTICS). They strongly hoped that the GTICS would play important role and bring benefits to both public and private sectors in term of sharing data and promoting cross border trade and transportation between and among ASEAN and GMS countries.

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Furthermore, the workshop participants provided the following suggestions and recommendations for further improvement and coordination of the GTICS.

▪ The GTICS team should collaborate with public sectors due to most of information source is from public sectors at provincial level. ▪ MI team should collaborate with the local stakeholders in terms of data collection and updating information as required. ▪ Technical information can be requested to the concerned government agencies at border checkpoint. ▪ Border provinces should share implementation status of CBTA online or border agency meetings results / reports. ▪ Authorized center to be established to check and update information regularly. The center should include persons or translators for both local border provinces languages. ▪ GTICS should share summary of clauses and articles of legal documents which will be useful for local transport operators and should be translated in English as well as in bi-lingual if possible; ▪ Legal documents should be updated. Otherwise the operators will be confused. ▪ GTICS platform should be integrated with tracking system of the private company. ▪ Include news & event page especially for the cross-border events and activities. ▪ Trade and transport statistics in English and US currency should be added. ▪ Assign focal person for validating and updating information regularly. ▪ For updating, system management, GTICS promotion, platform construction and long-term maintenance should be done by MI who initiated the project. ▪ The GTICS team should form a provincial team that can facilitate system management and GTICS promotion as needed in the provincial level. ▪ The authorized private contractor can be hired and assigned for system maintenance and management and even for the system promotion under the close guidance of MI GTICS team and the admins in charge for each country. ▪ The admins or focal person of each country can coordinate with concerned departments to verify information or assist them in uploading data, information and documents in the system. ▪ Proposed to assign the Trade Promoting Center in charge of controlling and managing the data. ▪ Communication should be done through provincial administration office & international cooperation department.

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Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... 1

I. WORKSHOP OVERVIEW ...... 6

II. OBJECTIVES ...... 6

III. PARTICIPANTS ...... 7

IV. WORKSHOP STRUCTURE ...... 8

V. SUMMARY OF PROVINCIAL CONSULTATIVE WORKSHOPS ...... 11

5.1.Discussion on validation transport and trade information category and source of information from provincial perspective ...... 11

5.2.Discussion on forming consensus on communication and data sharing mechanism between two bordering provinces ...... 13

5.3.Discussion on possible GTICS development strategy for data collection, inputs, translation, updating, sharing, system management and GTICS promotion at provincial level ...... 14

VI. SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 15

VII. CONCLUSION AND WAY FORWARD ...... 15

VIII. APPENDICES ...... 16

(1) Concept Note ...... 16

(2) Provincial Consultative Workshops ...... 20

2.1 Sa Kaeo Province (Thailand) and Banteay Meanchey Province (Cambodia) ...... 20

2.2 Trat Province (Thailand) and Koh Kong Province (Cambodia) ...... 26

2.3 Mukdahan Province (Thailand), Savannakhet Province (Lao PDR) and Quang Tri Province (Vietnam) ...... 32

2.4 Xishuangbanna (P.R. China) and Luangnamtha Province (Lao PDR) ...... 39

2.5 Chiangrai Province (Thailand) and Bokeo Province (Lao PDR) ...... 45

2.6 Tak Province (Thailand) and Kayin State (Myanmar) ...... 50

2.7 Chiang Rai Province (Thailand) and Shan State (Myanmar) ...... 56

2.8 Tay Ninh Province (Vietnam) ...... 63

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I. WORKSHOP OVERVIEW

With the support of Government of P.R. China, Mekong Institute (MI) is implementing a multi-year project on “Development of Transport Information Connectivity System along the Economic Corridors (EC) of Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS)” since 2017. A series of activities were conducted comprising of 1. Regional stakeholder consultation workshop to assess the feasibility of the GMS Transport Information Connectivity System (GTICS) in April 2017 with the participation of the representatives from the government ministries and agencies as well as from the private sector in the six GMS countries, 2. Regional modular workshop on “Development of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) Transport Information Connectivity System (GTICS) along the Economic Corridors” on April 3-5, 2018, and 3. National consultative meetings in GMS country during July – December 2018, respectively.

The workshops and meetings at regional and national level have obtained suggestions on development strategy and needed information category for GTICS along the Economic Corridors. With this backdrop, Mekong Institute (MI) organized the provincial consultative workshops at the selected border province as following;

i. Sa Kaeo Province, Thailand and Banteay Meanchey Province, Cambodia on August 20, 2019 at Indochina Hotel, Sa Kaeo Province, Thailand; ii. Trat Province, Thailand and Koh Kong Province, Cambodia on August 22, 2019 at Banpu Resort, Trat Province, Thailand; iii. Mukdahan Province, Thailand, Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR and Quangtri Province, Vietnam on August 27, 2019 at Phraermai Hotel, Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR; iv. Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China and Luangnamtha Province, Lao PDR on September 3, 2019 at Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China; v. Chiang Rai Province, Thailand and Bokeo Province, Lao PDR on September 5, 2019 at Chiang Khong District, Chiang Rai Province, Thailand; vi. Tak Province, Thailand and Kayin State, Myanmar on September 10, 2019 at Centara Hotel, Mae Sot District, Tak Province, Thailand; vii. Chiang Rai Province, Thailand and Shan State, Myanmar on September 12, 2019 at Mekong Delta Boutique Hotel, Mae Sai District, Chiang Rai Province, Thailand; viii. Tay Ninh Province, Vietnam on September 17, 2019 at Vinpearl Hotel, Tay Ninh Province, Vietnam.

This report presented a detailed summary of the workshop covering overview proceeding of the activity, background, objectives, topics for discussions and expected outcomes. The report also provides suggestions and recommendations for further consideration on establishment of the GTICS.

II. OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the workshop were to further obtained suggestions on development strategy and needed information category for GTICS along the Economic Corridors, facilitate discussion and form consensus on following topics between key stakeholders at the selected border province. More specific objectives were

1) To validate transport and trade information category and source of information from provincial perspective, which have been identified by MI according to the discussion of two regional workshops at MI in 2017 and 2018 as well as the consultative workshops at national level of each country in 2018; 2) To form consensus on communication and data sharing mechanism between two bordering provinces; 3) To discuss the possible GTICS development strategy for data collection, inputs, translation, updating, sharing, system management, GTICS promotion at provincial level. P a g e 6 | 68

III. PARTICIPANTS

Total of two hundred and thirty – four (234) mid-senior representatives from the Provincial governments 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.

Regard to the participant’s sector, one hundred and twenty-four (124) represented public sector, while one hundred and ten (110) were from private sector. Among them, one hundred and fifty – four (154) were male and eighty (80) were female. The composition of participants by gender and sector is shown the Graph below.

Poi Pet 12 0 3 1 16 CBD

Aranyaprathet

TH 3 2 2 1 8

Koh Kong 9 01 1 8 CBD

Trat

TH 6 4 3 3 16

Mukdahan

TH 11 1 2 0 14

Savannakhet 4 2 6 4 16 LAO

Quang Tri 7 0 5 3 15 VN

Xishuangbanna

CH 10 3 7 1 21

Luangnamtha 5 2 3 2 12 LAO

Chiang Rai

TH 3 3 6 3 15

Bokeo 6 0 4 0 10 LAO

Mae Sot

TH 4 6 3 2 15

Kayin 4 3 2 5 14 MM

Mae Sai

TH 2 5 4 3 14

Tachileik 2 5 4 6 17 MM

Tay Ninh & Ca Mau 0 11 9 20 VN

88 36 66 44 234 Total

Public Male Public Female Private Male Private Female Total

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ii. Trat province, Thailand and Koh Kong Province, i. Sa Kaeo Province, Thailand and Banteay Meanchey Cambodia on August 22, 2019 at Banpu Resort, Trat Province, Cambodia on August 20, 2019 at Indochina Province, Thailand; Hotel, Sa Kaeo Province, Thailand;

iii. Mukdahan province, Thailand, Savannakhet province, iv. Yunnan Province, China and Luangnamtha Province, Lao PDR and Quangtri province, Vietnam on August 27, Lao PDR on September 3, 2019 at Xishuangbanna Dai 2019 at Phraemai Hotel, Savannakhet Province, Lao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China; PDR;

vi. Mae Sot, Tak Province, Thailand and Kayin State, Myanmar on September 10, 2019 at Centara Hotel, Thailand; v. Chiang Rai province, Thailand and Bokeo Province, Lao PDR on September 5, 2019 at Chiang Khong District, Thailand;

vii. Mae Sai, Chiang Rai Province, Thailand and Tachilek, viii. Tay Ninh province, Vietnam on September 17, 2019 at Shan State, Myanmar on September 12, 2019 at Vinpearl Hotel, Tay Ninh Province, Vietnam. Maekhong Delta Boutique Hotel, Thailand;

IV. WORKSHOP STRUCTURE

The workshop is structured into four sessions as follows:

Session 1: Introduction

MI Representative, Mr. Sa-nga Sattanun, Program Manager, Trade and Investment Facilitation Department (TIF), Mekong Institute (MI) welcomed all the delegates to the workshop and provided a brief introduction of Mekong Institute (MI), its background and thematic areas as well as governance structure of the MI. The workshop overview, objectives, target participants and program agenda were presented. P a g e 8 | 68

Then, the project on the Development of Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) Transport Information Connectivity System is presented.

Session 2: Presentation on MI Experience on Development of GMS Stakeholder Connectivity along the Economic Corridors

The GMS economic corridors identified 9 priority sectors as part of the GMS Economic Cooperation Program by ADB on Transport, Agriculture, Investment, Trade Facilitation, HRD, Tourism, Environment, Energy and Telecommunication for boosting trade and investment and stimulating jobs and growth. In term of MI experiences, the development of GMS stakeholder connectivity along the Economic Corridors (ECs) through GMS business databases is presented. The databases are:

• Development of North-South Economic Corridor Business Database and the business to business (B2B) e-platform at http://www.nsecbiz.com.

• Southern Economic Corridor (SEC) Business Database and the product showcase platform of SME from Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam at http://www.sec4business.com.

• East West Economic Corridor (EWEC) Business Database at http://www.ewecbiz.com. The business database is for showcasing product and services of over 2000 SMEs along the EWEC.

• GMS – Logistics Business Information Database at http://logisticsgms.com.the database is a platform for promoting and facilitating business networking among logistics companies in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

Session 3: Revisit Previous Discussions:

The conducted activities and outcomes of the project on Development of GTICS along the Economic Corridors (ECs) consisted of three phases: • Phases 1: Regional stakeholder consultation workshop to assess the feasibility of the GMS Transport Information Connectivity System (GTICS) in April 2017;

• Phase 2: Regional Consultation Workshop held on April 3-5, 2018 at Mekong Institute and National Consultation Meetings conducted from July – December, 2018, in China, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Vietnam and Thailand.

• Phase 3: Provincial Consultation Workshops being conducted from August – September, 2019 in border cities/towns of the GMS countries.

Significant results from the project activities and necessary data and information categories for the development of Development of Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) Transport Information Connectivity System were identified as provided in the Table 1 and Table 2.

Table 1. Information categories on Geography, Public Services, Private Services, and Laws

A. Geography Information C. Private Services • Border points • Garage, mechanics • Topography • Petrol stations • Road name and size • Restaurants • Number of lanes • Hotels • Road Quality • Warehouses • Road Conditions • SEZs • Bridge locations and size • Truck terminals

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• Weight stations location D. Legal Information • Cities and ring roads locations • Traffic signs • Access restriction • Transport regulations B. Public Services • Vehicles size limitations • Parking area (stop) and size • Changes in law & regulations • Police stations • Dangerous goods regulations • Hospitals • Goods restrictions • Resting areas (larger) and size • Cross border procedure & documents • Port access check list • Airport access • Border operating hours • Traffic conditions

Table 2. Information Categories on Users

A. Country Government Data Bank D. Particulars of the vehicle or F. Particulars of the Coordinator (DBC) prime mover trailer • Name • Type: Truck, bus, Pax car, • Chassis serial • Position etc. number • Contact no/email • Brand/trade mark • Number of axles B. Operators under Ministry of • Model/code • Empty weight Transport (MoT) license • Color • Capacity information • Year of manufacture G. Driver Information • Company name • Number of axles • Full name • Official address • Gross weight (trucks)/seats • Birth date • Representative (buses) • Passport no. • Contact no/email E. Engine of the vehicle or prime • Nationality • Tax registration No. mover • Driving license • MoT license no. • Brand (if different from body) No. C. Vehicle information • Number of cylinders • Vehicle registration certificate • Capacity • License plate, or registration • Horsepower No. • Serial number • First date of registration • Validity

Session 4: Group Discussions.

Each country’s representatives discussed on following topics;

- Validation transport and trade information category and source of information from provincial perspective, which have been identified by MI according to the discussion of two regional workshops at MI in 2017 and 2018 as well as the consultative Workshops at national level of each country in 2018.

- Form consensus on communication and data sharing mechanism between two bordering provinces.

- Discuss the possible GTICS development strategy for data collection, inputs, translation, updating, sharing, system management, GTICS promotion at provincial level.

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V. SUMMARY OF PROVINCIAL CONSULTATIVE WORKSHOPS

The workshop participants worked in country group. The country groups consist of members from provincial governments and private stakeholders. The discussions results were summarized as following.

5.1. Summary Discussion on “Validation information categories”

Discussion topic on “To validate information categories and information needs from provincial perspective. The information and categories were identified by MI according to the discussions of two regional Workshops at MI in 2017 and 2018 as well as the consultative meetings in capital city of each GMS country in 2018”

Overall, the workshop participants validated information categories and information needs from provincial perspective and agreed as proposed. In addition, the participants suggested to add and provide information on

Geography information ▪ Railway, airport, waterways and inland & sea ports and facilities; ▪ River transport such as water navigation, pier facilities, port facilities, warehouse, etc. ▪ Airport information connects to main roads and other facilities including cross border SEZ (CBSEZs) in the region; ▪ Locations of weight stations and parking area, resting areas, warehouse and traffic condition; ▪ National road 48 in Cambodia is the main highway. No permanent weight stations situated in specific locations, only mobile weight station; ▪ Security information for land and water transportation; ▪ Route information, formal and informal routes including update road quality and bridge capacity; ▪ Traffic information; ▪ New facilities and structures in Myawaddy and Mae Sot sides as part of new bridge construction.

Public services ▪ Truck terminals, customs and immigration, international border checkpoints, 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 and supporting services, one stop service; ▪ No public parking areas in Cambodia, only private parking area/space, no deep sea ports and Airport projects (Dara Sakor Airport & Koh Kong Airport) are under construction; ▪ Information about a focal agency or agencies or a center; ▪ Emergency contact information to be shared in local and English languages; ▪ Create the web site of the provincial Entrepreneur Associations in the provinces with border line; ▪ Border checkpoints procedure and documentation, and technical information can be inquired / obtained from chief of international border checkpoint and concerned government agencies at border checkpoint; ▪ Cross-Border procedures and opening hours information. It should be in line with recent implementation of IICBTA; ▪ Border crossing fee for different passengers and types of trucks; ▪ Information of goods loaded streams.

Private services information ▪ 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 such as profiles of companies; P a g e 11 | 68

▪ Updated statistics about cross-border transport and trade activities such as list of registered truck operators, cross-border trade and transport volume and value, any fee related with cross-border 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; ▪ 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; ▪ Update Myanmar Vehicle Laws Revisions.

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; ▪ Customs Department, Department of Transport, NTFC for IICBTA procedures, related documents, information; ▪ Local Banks and insurance companies for banking and insurance information and other private facility information; ▪ Useful websites via Myanmar Trade Portal, Ministry of Commerce, Myanmar Customs Department, Ministry of Transport and Communication at o www.myanmartradeportal.gov.mm o www.commerce.gov.mm o www.myanmarcustoms.gov.mm/ o www.motc.gov.mm/ ▪ ADB and UN source for other regional information and update information.

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5.2. Summary Discussion on “Forming Consensus”

Details are shown in Appendix (2) Provincial Consultative Workshop.

Discussion topic on “form consensus on communication and data sharing mechanism between two bordering provinces”.

The discussions are highlighted as followings

Consensus on communication mechanism ▪ Border Committee constituted with provincial governments, immigration, police and security force along with the customs and ministry of commerce from both sides: Mae Sot and Myawaddy. The committee has frequent meetings for the cross-border issues as well as security issues in the area. ▪ Agency to agency: it means that the department from Mae Sot usually meets the same department from Myawaddy: for example; the customs department of Mae Sot meets the Myawaddy customs department to share the customs information and to discuss the issues for both customs agencies. Other agencies also follow this exercise. ▪ 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. ▪ Private sectors from both sides meet and coordinate via CCI monthly or quarterly meetings or occasional meetings. ▪ Twin city center: MOU was done to establish a Twin-City Center at Mae Sot and delegates from both Mae Sot and Myawaddy. It’s a channel to meet each other and share information related with cross border activities. ▪ Both sides will 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.

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5.3. Summary Discussions on “Possible GTICS Development Strategy”

Details information are shown in Appendix (2) Provincial Consultative Workshops.

Discussion topic on “the possible GTICS development strategy for data collection, inputs, translation, updating, sharing, system management, GTICS promotion at provincial level”.

Overall, the workshop participants suggested as followings;

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 stakeholder 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 ▪ 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.

Sharing ▪ Each concerned organization shall provide information to MI;

System management ▪ For updating, system management, GTICS promotion, platform construction and long-term maintenance should be done by MI who initiated the project; ▪ It was suggested that the GTICS team should form a provincial team that can facilitate system management and GTICS promotion as needed in the provincial level; ▪ The authorized private contractor can be hired and assigned for system maintenance and management and even for the system promotion under the close guidance of MI GTICS team and the admins in charge for each country; ▪ The admins or focal person of each country can coordinate with concerned departments to verify information or assist them in uploading data, information and documents in the system. ▪ Proposed to assign the Trade Promoting Center in charge of controlling and managing the data.

GTICS promotion at provincial level ▪ Share schedule of planned events and activities; ▪ GTICS promotion should be done by MI. ▪ Agreed to maintain and promote the GTICS at provincial level. P a g e 14 | 68

VI. SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The workshop participants provided the following suggestions and recommendations for further improvement of the GTICS and coordination.

▪ The GTICS team should collaborate with public sectors due to most of information source is from public sectors at provincial level. ▪ MI team should collaborate with the local stakeholder in terms of data collection and updating information as required. ▪ Technical information can be requested to the concerned government agencies at border checkpoint. ▪ Border provinces should share implementation status of CBTA online or border agency meetings results / reports. ▪ Authorized center to be established to check and update information regularly. The center should include persons or translators for both languages. ▪ GTICS should share summary of clauses and articles of legal documents which will be useful for local transport operators and should be translated in English as well as in bi-lingual if possible; ▪ Legal documents should be updated and otherwise the operators will be confused. ▪ GTICS platform should be integrated with tracking system of the private company. ▪ Include news & event page especially for the cross-border events and activities. ▪ Trade and transport statistics in English and US currency should be added. ▪ Assign focal person for validating and updating information regularly. ▪ For updating, system management, GTICS promotion, platform construction and long-term maintenance should be done by MI who initiated the project. ▪ The GTICS team should form a provincial team that can facilitate system management and GTICS promotion as needed in the provincial level. ▪ The authorized private contractor can be hired and assigned for system maintenance and management and even for the system promotion under the close guidance of MI GTICS team and the admins in charge for each country. ▪ The admins or focal person of each country can coordinate with concerned departments to verify information or assist them in uploading data, information and documents in the system. ▪ Proposed to assign the Trade Promoting Center in charge of controlling and managing the data. ▪ Communication should be done through provincial administration office & international cooperation department.

VII. CONCLUSION AND WAY FORWARD

The provincial consultative workshop was conducted in a highly interactive atmosphere with the facilitation of MI project team in collaboration with all the participants from workshops. Significant information and feedbacks from group discussions were achieved and met the objectives and expected outcomes of the workshop. The representatives from selected border provinces were highly interested and supported the project activities and intervention through development of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Transport Information Connectivity System (GTICS). They strongly hoped that the GTICS would play important role and bring benefits to both public and private sectors in term of sharing data and promoting cross border trade and transportation between and among ASEAN and GMS countries.

At the end of the workshop, the representatives from each province thanked MI and project team for conducting the provincial consultative workshop between the two border provinces. They mentioned that workshop helped them understood more about the GMS as well as MI, and hoped that the inputs and suggestions to the workshop would be helpful to the project. The MI project team concluded the workshop program by thanking all representatives from the two border provinces at each workshop for spending time to attend workshop and providing useful information and feedback to the project.

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VIII. APPENDICES

(1) Concept Note

1.1 Background

The Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) comprises six countries, namely Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, the People’s Republic of China (Yunnan and Guangxi provinces), Thailand, and Viet Nam that share an increasingly interdependent network of transport, trade, and tourism.

The development of transport infrastructure and connectivity together with the implementation of the Cross-Border Transport Facilitation Agreement (CBTA) aim to achieve the overarching goal of a seamless network of transport and transport services in the GMS, which is also in line with the Kunming Declaration (2005) for a stronger GMS partnership for common prosperity, while focusing on the transport sector. This vision of transport services operating seamlessly along the fully connected and integrated multimodal transport networks of the six GMS members cover (i) synergies in the GMS transport system; (ii) an open market for transport services; (iii) economic efficiency to reduce transport costs; and (iv) adoption and development of multi-modalism.

All GMS countries have widely recognized that transport is among the key catalysts of economic development and international competitiveness. The improvement of transport and communication facilities and information exchange is significant and highly suitable in the current context of expanded land routes and exchange of traffic rights at the key GMS border crossing points which allow a strong move towards an integrated regional market, with enhanced cooperation in improving the level and quality of transport and communications services and infrastructure.1

The North-South Economic Corridor (NSEC) forms a North – South axis connecting Kunming, Yunnan province to Viet Nam, and Yunnan province to Bangkok, Thailand. It facilitates transport further south to Malaysia and Singapore. With the growing regional trade and the positioning of Kunming as a logistics hub between China and ASEAN, this economic corridor has great potential to form a major transport gateway between China and Thailand and the GMS. The East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) is projected to be a land bridge between Viet Nam and the Andaman Sea running from Da Nang, Vietnam through Thailand to Myawaddy, Myanmar. On the other hand, the Southern Economic Corridor (SEC) connecting Bangkok to the east with Vietnam through Cambodia is emerging as an important linkage for industrial production hubs connecting South East Asia, Far East and South Asia. With regard to transport systems, it is evident that road transport is the dominant mode in all the GMS countries. Meanwhile sea transport is the transport mode most commonly used for intra-ASEAN trade. Contrarily, the regional railway network is still developing, and transport services have yet to meet market demand as a matter of fact. Also, for inland waterways transport is limited in terms of transport services and capacity with the fact that the Mekong River is not yet fully navigable. There is potential to expand its scope of freight transport but there still exist challenges such as security and safety.

In terms of trade and investment, businesses have established and developed along the corridors, but soft infrastructure is still inadequate. In this regard, enhancement and adjustments in regulations and development of information and communications technology will significantly contribute to the process of transforming the transport corridors into full economic corridors. In addition, the development of Special Economic Zones (SEZ), Cross-Border Economic Zones (CBEZ) in the border areas will promote the development of transport and trade logistics, and encourage further investment from businesses and the private sector that in return will benefit from competitive advantages in specific locations of each country and the sub-region as a whole.

1 Progress report on TTF Initiative in the GMS, ADB, 2013 P a g e 16 | 68

Together with the development of transport connectivity and the growth of transport and logistics markets, given both opportunities and challenges ahead, the GMS Transport Information Connectivity System (GTICS), which is known as a regional initiative, aims to streamline the transport information system, enhance the transport information networks and develop an integrated transport information platform with an effective information sharing mechanism among the GMS countries. Overall, this targets supporting the further development of the three main economic corridors under the GMS cooperation framework. The development of the GTICS can generate complementarities to the ASEAN connectivity: (i) Physical connectivity, covering Transport, Port Facilities, Logistics Services Facilities, Information Communications Technology (ITC), Energy, Special Economic Zones (SEZ); (ii) Institutional connectivity with Trade Liberalization Facilitation, covering ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement, Standards, ASEAN Single Window, Customs Integration, Investment Liberalization and Facilitation, Regional Transport Agreements, Capacity Building, and etc.; and (iii) People-to-people connectivity targeting education, culture, and tourism.

To streamline and materialize the technical assistance to the GMS countries in the mentioned area, with the support of Government of P.R. China, Mekong Institute (MI) is implementing a multi-year project comprising of the following components: 1. Regional modular workshop on “Development of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) Transport Information Connectivity System (GTICS) along the Economic Corridors” on April 3-5, 2018. 2. Regional stakeholder consultation workshop to assess the feasibility of the GMS Transport Information Connectivity System (GTICS) in April 2017 with the participation of the representatives from the government ministries and agencies as well as from the private sector in the six GMS countries.

The workshops and meetings at regional and national level have obtained suggestions on development strategy and needed information category for GTICS along the Economic Corridors. In this regards, it is equally important to also organize workshops at border area to validate information category, to obtain local opinions on development strategy of GTICS so as to meet local needs. Hence it is proposed to conduct consultative Workshops between the twin provinces of the NSEC, EWEC and SEC along the GMS economic corridors, to form consensus on transport information sharing mechanism and relevant cooperation to facilitate transport and trade in the GMS.

1.2 Objectives

The objectives of the workshops are to facilitate discussion and form consensus on following topics between key stakeholders from twin border provinces along GMS Economic Corridors:

1) Validate transport and trade information category and source of information from provincial perspective, which have been identified by MI according to the discussion of two regional workshops at MI in 2017 and 2018 as well as the consultative Workshops at national level of each country in 2018; 2) Form consensus on communication and data sharing mechanism between two bordering provinces; 3) Discuss the possible GTICS development strategy for data collection, inputs, Picture 1 Map of GMS Economic Corridor and translation, updating, sharing, Planned Consultative Meeting Points; Map Source: ADB system management, GTICS promotion at provincial level. P a g e 17 | 68

1.3 Venue and Duration

The half-day workshop is organized at one side of the following eight (8) border crossing points or near- by town/ city as below:

Workshop Date Twin border Twin-border Country Economic Expected No. of and Location crossing points Provinces Corridor Participants of each province Aug 20, 2019 (1) Sa Kaeo Thailand SEC 15 Aranyaprathet, Aranyaprathet / Banteay Thailand Poipet Cambodia SEC 15 Meanchey Aug 22, 2019 (2) Hat Lek / Trat Thailand SEC 15 Trat, Thailand Cham Yeam Koh Kong Cambodia SEC 15 Aug 27, 2019 (3.1) Mukdahan Mukdahan Thailand EWEC 15 Savannakhet, Lao / Savannakhet Savannakhet Laos EWEC PDR 15 (3.2) Lao Bao / Savannakhet Laos EWEC Dansavanh Quang Tri Viet Nam EWEC 15 Sep 3, 2019 (4) Mohan / Yunnan P.R. China NSEC 15 Jinghong, Boten P.R.China Luangnamtha Laos NSEC 15 Sep 5, 2019 (5) Chiang Chiang Rai Thailand NSEC 15 Chiang Khong, Khong/ Thailand Houayxay Bokeo Laos NSEC 15 Sep 10, 2019 (6) Myawaddy / Kayin State Myanmar EWEC 15 Mae Sot, Thailand Mae Sot Tak Thailand EWEC 15 Sep 12, 2019 (7) Tachilek / Shan State Myanmar NSEC 15 Mae Sai, Thailand Mae Sai Chiang Rai Thailand NESC 15 Sep 17, 2019 (8) Bavet / Svay Rieng Cambodia SEC 15 Moc Bai, Vietnam Moc Bai Tay Ninh Viet Nam SEC 15 Note: For finalized workshop date and location, please refer the official letter from MI.

1.4 Target Participants

The consultative meeting targets mid-senior representatives of the key stakeholders of the Provincial Government including Land Transport Departments, Customs and Immigration, Special Economic Zone and Border Economic Cooperation Zone Authorities, and representatives of Transport and Logistics Association, provincial Chamber of Commerce, traders association, exporters/ importers of the aforementioned twin border provinces.

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1.5 Tentative Workshop agenda

Time Activities and key topics By Whom 08:45 - 09:00 Registration

09:00 - 09:15 Welcome and Opening Remarks Hosting Organization and MI

09:15 - 09:45 Project Review and Workshop Agenda MI Representative

09:45 - 10:00 Group Photo and coffee break All participants & MI team 10:00 - 11:00 Workshop 1: All participants & MI team Validate transport and trade information category and source of information from provincial Divide into two country-wide perspective (which have been identified by MI groups according to the discussion of two regional Workshops at MI in 2017 and 2018 as well as the consultative meetings in capital of each country in 2018) 11:00 - 12:00 Workshop 2: All participants & MI team Form consensus on communication and data sharing mechanism between two bordering Divide into two groups – Public provinces Sector and Private Sector with mixed nationalities 12:00 -13:00 Lunch and networking All participants & MI team 13:00 -14:00 Workshop 3: All participants & MI team Discuss the possible GTICS development strategy for data collection, inputs, translation, updating, Divide into two country-wide sharing, system management, GTICS promotion at groups provincial level

14: 00 - 14:30 Summary and the way forward MI Representative

14: 30 - Departure

1.6 MI Team and Contacts

Trade and Investment Facilitation Department, Mekong Institute Email: [email protected] | Fax: +66 (0) 4320 3656 | Website: www.mekonginstitute.org Mr. Madhurjya Kumar Dutta Mr. Sa-nga Sattanun Ms. Hao Wen Director Program Manager Program Coordinator Tel: +66 (0) 43 202 411-2 Ext. Tel: +66 (0) 43 202 411-2 Ext. Tel: +66 (0) 43 202 411-2 Ext. 2101 2012 2105 Email: Mobile: +66 (0) 629 903 971 Mobile: +66 (0) 874 232 983 [email protected] Email: Email: [email protected] [email protected] Mr. Ronnarit Chaiyo-saeng Mr. Kyaw Min Tun Mr. Sokim Phang Program Officer Program Officer Program Officer on Secondment Tel: +66 (0) 43 202 411-2 Ext. Tel: +66 (0) 43 202 411-2 Ext. Tel: +66 (0) 43 202 411-2 Ext. 2107 2108 2106 Mobile: +66 (0) 61 952 9792 Mobile: +66 (0) 64-8264731 Mobile: +66 (0) 80-767-5289 Email: Email: Email: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] P a g e 19 | 68

(2) Provincial Consultative Workshops

2.1 Sa Kaeo province, Thailand and Banteay Meanchey Province, Cambodia

▪ Venue

The workshop conducted with representatives from the Provincial government agencies and private sectors of Sa Kaeo Province, Thailand and Banteay Meanchey Province, Cambodia on August 20, 2019 at Indochina Hotel, Sa Kaeo Province, Thailand.

▪ Participants

Twenty-four (24) mid-senior representatives from the Provincial government agencies and private sectors of Sa Kaeo Province, Thailand and Banteay Meanchey Province, Cambodia attended the workshop. They represented Provincial Municipalities, Departments of Customs, Immigration, Land Transport and Commerce, Transport and Logistics Companies, Provincial Chamber of Commerce, and Special Economic Zones. The composition of participants by gender and sector is shown the Table 3.

Table 3. The composition of participants by gender and sector

Country Border Public Private Total Male Female Male Female Cambodia Poi Pet 12 0 3 1 16 Thailand Aranyaprathet 3 2 2 1 8 Total 15 2 5 2 24

▪ Group Discussions

The workshop participants worked in country group. The country groups consisted of members from both provincial governments and private stakeholders. The discussions results were summarized as following.

Workshop 1 : Validate transport and trade information category and source of information from provincial perspective, which have been identified by MI according to the discussion of two regional workshops at MI in 2017 and 2018 as well as the consultative Workshops at national level of each country in 2018.

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Thailand Cambodia Information categories on geography, public Information categories on geography, public services, private services and laws. services, private services and laws

The followings issues are proposed to add in the The Cambodian group had no objection on the GTICS. existing information categories as well as A. Geography Information information in Table 1. However, due to limited time • Railway for discussion and consideration, some additional • Airport points can be provided as below. • Waterways A. Geography Information • Inland and Sea Ports • Agreed on the existing information B. Public Services B. Public services • Truck terminals • Railway service • Customs and immigration • City hall administrative and supporting • International border checkpoints services, one stop service • Temporary checkpoints for border trade C. Private Services and border crossing • Industry zones • Cargo inspection stations (X-ray) • Trading and dry port • Tourist police stations D. Legal Information • Sa Kaeo Immigration office at border • Foreign driver information checkpoints • Insurance information o Ban Khlong Luek (open 6 am. -10 pm.) • Identity of driver (ID card, passport) o Ban Khao Din (open 6AM-10PM) • Importer license, company name o Nongprue (temporary) • Special mission of delegations, both o Ta Phra-ya (temporary) business and governments o Ban Nhong-ian (temporary) • Office for visa extension C. Private Services Information categories on users • Council of Trade and Tourism between the The Cambodian group agreed on the existing two provinces information categories as well as information listed D. Legal Information in Table 2. • Law and regulation for international trade • Contact information of border control agencies and decision makers at provincial level

Others comments: o Urge completion of the AH1 construction o Check weight of transported cargo across old bridge o Thailand-Cambodia Common control system on weight cargo truck o Connect Khlong Luek – Poi Pet railway network o Facilitate inspection of border crossing for both countries o Facilitate procedure of border trade

Information categories on users A. Country Government Data Bank coordinator (DBC) • Agreed on the existing information B. Operators under Ministry of Transport (MoT) • Type of transport licenses/permits P a g e 21 | 68

• Number of transport operators and • Formal fees for transport license/permit • Types of registered vehicles C. Vehicle information • Classify the registered vehicles by types • Types of vehicle plat number • Information on procedure for vehicle registration • Size of vehicles, number of registered vehicle per year, vehicle tax payment • Vehicle inspection, insurance, weight limitation • Vehicle brand

The group agreed on the information in category D, E, F and G. However, the information is very detail and may not be necessary for users. The category D, E, F and G can be combined with category C as the vehicle information.

Workshop 2: Form consensus on communication and data sharing mechanism between two bordering provinces.

Thailand Cambodia ▪ Identify focal person/group for information ▪ Communicate via Email, telephone, social sharing between the two provinces networks, e.g. Line, Telegram ▪ Regular meeting to be conducted. ▪ Conduct regular meeting, workshop every 3 months, 6 months and 1 year

Workshop 3: The possible GTICS development strategy for data collection, inputs, translation, updating, sharing, system management, GTICS promotion at provincial level

Thailand Cambodia ▪ Establish central data center for collecting, ▪ MI oversee overall GTICS development storing, updating and management strategy P a g e 22 | 68

▪ MI takes care of the data center and form a ▪ Collect and update data every 6 months team to coordinate with the two countries from ▪ MI works as administrative center, and o Ministry of Transport communicate with Thailand’s government o Ministry of commerce ministries for collecting data and relevant o Customs and Excise information o Private sector ▪ Each concerned organization shall provide ▪ Ministry of Transport should be responsible information to MI for data input into the system. ▪ MI updates information every month ▪ Translation: English and Chinese should ▪ Form a data administration focal team in be used in the GTICS website each country for collecting and inputting ▪ Updating: 3 months, 6 months up to the data into database situation according to any new data, ▪ Create web based updating system information, updated law and regulations ▪ Hot news ▪ Promotion of GTICS ▪ Questions and answers box o The GTICS website should be ▪ Schedule of planned events and activities simple and user friendly with ▪ MI team as system administrator can attractive logo. collect and update data from provincial immigration, customs and trade departments, etc. ▪ The success of GTICS depends on MI.

▪ Conclusion and way forward

The provincial consultative workshop was conducted in a highly interactive atmosphere with the facilitation of MI project team in collaboration with all the participants. Significant information and feedbacks from group discussions were achieved and met the objectives and expected outcomes of the workshop. The representatives from Sa Keao and Banteay Meanchey provinces were highly interested and supported the project activities and intervention through development of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Transport Information Connectivity System (GTICS). They strongly hoped that the GTICS would play important role and bring benefits to both public and private sectors in term of sharing data and promoting cross border trade and transportation between and among ASEAN and GMS countries.

At the end of the workshop, the representative from Sa Kaeo provinces thanked MI and project team for conducting the provincial consultative workshop between the two border provinces. They mentioned that workshop helped them understood more about the GMS as well as MI, and hoped that the inputs and suggestions to the workshop would be helpful to the project. The MI project team concluded the workshop program by thanking all representatives from the two border provinces for spending time to attend workshop and providing useful information and feedback to the project.

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▪ Participants List

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2.2 Trat province, Thailand and Koh Kong Province, Cambodia

▪ Venue

The workshop conducted together with representatives from the Provincial Governments and private sectors of Trat Province, Thailand and Koh Kong Province, Cambodia on August 22, 2019 at Banpu Resort, Trat Province, Thailand.

▪ Participants

Twenty-seven (27) mid-senior representatives from the Provincial Governments and private sectors of Trat Province, Thailand and Koh Kong Province, Cambodia attended the workshop. The participants represented Provincial Municipalities, Land Transport, Customs and Immigration Departments, Transport and Logistics Companies, Provincial Chamber of Commerce, and Special Economic Zones. The composition of participants by gender and sector is shown the Table 4.

Table 4. The composition of participants by gender and sector

Country Border Public Private Total Male Female Male Female Cambodia Cham Yeam 9 0 1 1 11 Thailand Hat Lek 6 4 3 3 16 Total 15 4 4 4 27

▪ Group Discussions

The discussion results were summarized as below: Workshop 1: To validate information categories and information needs from provincial perspective. The information and categories were identified by MI according to the discussions of two regional Workshops at MI in 2017 and 2018 as well as the consultative meetings in capital city of each GMS country in 2018”

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Thailand Cambodia Information categories on geography, public Information categories on geography, public services, private services and laws services, private services and laws

A. Geography Information The Cambodian Group had no objection on the • The group agreed on information provided existing information categories as well as in this category and had no additional information in Table 1. However, some comments/points to be added. clarifications and additional comments were made B. Public Services as below. • The group agreed on information provided E. Geography Information in this category. • Clarifications • Additional point on locations of weight o National Road 48 is the main highway. stations. o No permanent weight stations situated C. Private Services in specific locations, only mobile weight • The group agreed on information provided station. in this category. F. Public services • Additional point on types of import and • No public parking areas, only private export cargoes across the Hat Lek-Cham parking area/space Yeam border checkpoints • No deep seaports D. Legal Frameworks • Airport projects (Dara Sakor Airport & Koh • Agreed and had no comment Kong Airport) are under construction.

Information categories on users Information categories on users A. Country Government Data Bank coordinator A. Country Government Data Bank coordinator (DBC) (DBC) • Had no objection on the existing ▪ Agree with existing information information B. Operators under Ministry of Transport (MoT) • Additional point on social media contact license information such as Lines, Telegram, WhatApp... ▪ Agree with existing information B. Operators under Ministry of Transport (MoT) ▪ Complete customs documentation and • Agreed and no comment procedure for tourist busses. C. Vehicle information C. Vehicle information • Agreed on the existing information ▪ Agreed and no additional comments. • Insurance information of vehicles. D. Particulars of the vehicle or prime mover ▪ Agreed and no additional comments Other Comments and suggestions include: E. Engine of the vehicle or prime mover ▪ Agreed and no additional comments • Inspection of cargo and people at non- F. Particulars of the trailer international border checkpoints are rather ▪ Agreed and no additional comments difficult. G. Driver Information • Opening hours at the border gates for ▪ Agreed and no additional comments import export cargo should be extended – (24 hours).

• Requesting for permits of import – export Other Suggestions include: agricultural seeds/products is difficult as ▪ Overall information on border checkpoints the responsible government office is procedure and documentation can be located in Phnom Penh, which is far from inquired / obtained from chief of Cham Koh Kong province. Yeam international border checkpoint. • Border free trade zone should be ▪ Technical information can be requested to established between Koh Kong and Trat to the concerned government agencies at promote border trade between the two border checkpoint. provinces. • Increase number of permitted vehicles to cross border between the two countries. Current number is 500 trucks. P a g e 27 | 68

• Relaxing procedures/ regulations on cross border transport between Koh Kong and Trat Province o Documentations o Traveling permissions o Allowing personal car to cross border

Workshop 2: Form consensus on communication and data sharing mechanism between two bordering provinces.

Thailand Cambodia ▪ Organizing workshops, study visits, ▪ Communication between province and knowledge sharing to understand province by conducting regular (monthly) regulations, transport & logistics, business, meeting on visions of both province import & export, tourism of each country ▪ Communication should be done through ▪ Single window, one stop service for sharing provincial administration office & information international cooperation department. ▪ Private sector, business linkage forum ▪ Data sharing center and free trade zone

Workshop 3: The possible GTICS development strategy for data collection, inputs, translation, updating, sharing, system management, GTICS promotion at provincial level.

Thailand Cambodia ▪ Establish data committee and Center for ▪ Data collection sharing information o Some data/information/location for ▪ Data collection by customs department transportation can be obtained by ▪ Data input by Ministry of digital economy Google, Google map and society o Facebook page, website of concerned ▪ Form a team for updating data on the ministries system monthly. o Directly contact the concerned ▪ GTICS promotion should be done by MI. ministries ▪ Translation by foreign relation office, ▪ Input service center. o Each concerned ministry should P a g e 28 | 68

update information on laws and regulations, and input the information to the system ▪ Translation o GMS Languages & English o All document translation should be formally done by Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ▪ For updating, system management, GTICS promotion, platform construction and long- term maintenance should be done by MI who initiated the project.

▪ Conclusion and way forward

The provincial consultative workshop was conducted in a highly interactive environment with the facilitation of MI project team in collaboration with all the participants. Significant information and feedbacks from group discussions were achieved and met the objectives and expected outcomes of the workshop. It was noted that the representatives from Koh Kong and Trat provinces supported the project activities and intervention through development of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Transport Information Connectivity System (GTICS) for sharing information on cross border transport and trade along the GMS economic corridors. However, types of information and information sharing in GTICS must be aligned with the national laws and regulations of the LM countries.

At the end of the workshop, the representative from Trat and Koh Kong provinces expressed their appreciation to MI, project team and donor for organizing the provincial consultative workshop between the two border provinces, and showed willingness for providing further support in future activities of the project. The MI project team concluded the workshop program by thanking all representatives from the two border provinces for spending time to attend workshop and providing useful information and feedback to the project.

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▪ Participants List

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2.3 Mukdahan Province, Thailand, Savannakhet, Lao PDR and Quang Tri, Vietnam

▪ Venue

The workshop conducted with representatives from the Provincial Governments and private sectors of Mukdahan Province, Thailand, Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR and Quang tri Province, Vietnam on August 27, 2019 at Phairmai Hotel, Savannakhet, Lao PDR.

▪ Participants

Forty -five (45) mid-senior representatives from the Provincial Governments and private sectors of three provinces in Thailand, Lao PDR and Vietnam attended the workshop. The participants represented Provincial Municipalities, Land Transport, Customs and Immigration Departments, Transport and Logistics Companies, Provincial Chamber of Commerce and Industries, and Special Economic Zones. The composition of participants by gender and sector is shown the Table 5.

Table 5. The composition of participants by gender and sector

Country Border Public Private Total Male Female Male Female Thailand Mukdahan 11 1 2 0 14 Lao PDR Savannakhet / 4 2 6 4 16 Dansavan Vietnam Quang Tri 7 0 5 3 15 Total 22 3 13 7 45

▪ Group Discussions.

The discussion results were summarized as below: Workshop 1: To validate information categories and information needs from provincial perspective. The information and categories were identified by MI according to the discussions of two regional Workshops at MI in 2017 and 2018 as well as the consultative meetings in capital city of each GMS country in 2018”

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Overall, the delegates agreed on information categories identified by MI. Some suggestions were made as followings. Thailand ▪ Update information about flood situation for company transportation. ▪ Coordinate with Disaster Preparedness Center in the province to get such information. ▪ In term of coordinator, each province should assign focal person to update and share information.

Lao PDR ▪ Each country should coordinate and share information especially fee for customs, transportation and import and export goods.

Vietnam ▪ Proposed to provide weather information that will align with the proposed information from Thailand. ▪ It’s necessary to hire persons to update the information for first three-year by MI and or donor as so to have sustainability development in long term.

Workshop 2: Form consensus on communication and data sharing mechanism between two bordering provinces.

Thailand

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▪ Apply and integrate high technology to the system such as Block Chain. ▪ Mukdahan province is planning to set up Intelligent Operation Center (IOC). This center can identify transportation driver and driving. If we have IOC, the authorized person will act as a communicator for sharing information with Laos and Vietnam in local language. ▪ In Thailand, Ministry of Digital Economy and Society is a key organization for sharing and updating information. However, the information can be shared by provincial digital department. ▪ Proposed MI be a main coordinator to coordinate with the mentioned department at provincial and national level. Lao PDR ▪ It should have an information center for sharing information like factbook and others. Vietnam ▪ Updating information by Transport Department in Vietnam will responsible by National level in Hanoi. It takes times to update and cause out of date of information.

Workshop 3: The possible GTICS development strategy for data collection, inputs, translation, updating, sharing, system management, GTICS promotion at provincial level.

Thailand ▪ Thailand will set up smart mobility system to improve transportation at Mukdahan. This system will be channel to update and share information accordingly. Lao PDR ▪ Request budget for setting up information sharing center and hiring a focal person to coordinate with provincial departments such as department of public work and transport. ▪ Request MI to support on this matter. After received, the representatives will share meeting note to higher supervisor for further consideration.

Vietnam ▪ It’s good opportunity to be part of the project on the important discussions that make them underusing the development of GTIC system. ▪ Sharing information on GTIC is importance at the provincial level. All information is necessary to approve by higher authorized person. ▪ It was informed that key actor of information utilization is company and driver.

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▪ Conclusion and way forward

The provincial consultative workshop was conducted in a highly interactive environment with the facilitation of MI project team in collaboration with all the participants. Significant information and feedbacks from group discussions were achieved and met the objectives and expected outcomes of the workshop. It was noted that the representatives from Mukdahan, Savannakhet and Quangtri provinces supported the project activities and intervention through development of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Transport Information Connectivity System (GTICS) for sharing information on cross border transport and trade along the GMS economic corridors.

At the end of the workshop, the representative from each country expressed their appreciation to MI, project team and donor for organizing the provincial consultative workshop in Savannakhet, Lao PDR, and showed willingness for providing further support in future activities of the project. The MI project team concluded the workshop program by thanking all representatives for spending time to attend workshop and providing useful information and feedback to the project.

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▪ Participants List:

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2.4 Jinghong, P.R. China and Luangnamtha Province, Lao PDR

▪ Venue

The workshop conducted between representatives from the Provincial governments and private sectors of Jinghong, Yunnan province, China and Luang Namtha province, Lao PDR on September 3, 2019 at InterContinental Hotel and Resort, Jinghong, China.

▪ Participants

Thirty – three (33) mid-senior representatives from the Provincial governments and private sectors of provinces in China and Lao PDR attended the workshop. The participants represented Provincial Municipalities, Land Transport, Customs and Immigration Departments, Transport and Logistics Companies, Provincial Chamber of Commerce, and Special Economic Zones. The composition of participants by gender and sector is shown the Table 6.

Table 6. The composition of participants by gender and sector

Country Border Public Private Total Male Female Male Female China Mohan 10 3 7 1 21 Lao PDR Boten 5 2 3 2 12 Total 15 5 10 3 33

▪ Group Discussions

The discussion results were summarized as below:

Workshop 1: To validate information categories and information needs from provincial perspective. The information and categories were identified by MI according to the discussions of two regional Workshops at MI in 2017 and 2018 as well as the consultative meetings in capital city of each GMS country in 2018”

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China Lao PDR ▪ As the objectives are to solve problem on Overall, agreed on information categories identified transport and trade for enhancing regional by MI in 2017 and 2018. Some suggestions are as economic development, the GTIC should be followings developed as a server system platform system. ▪ Set up committee members and coordinator at The public sector will act as information provincial level to work and manage the GTIC provider while the private will act as service as mentioned by MI. To do so, budget is user. needed. ▪ Suggest to rename is as GMS Land Transport ▪ Proposed to organize a training for IT staff and Service System purchasing equipment to work with the ▪ GTIC contents – agreed with Laos team on system. adding information for driver, vehicle for exist and enter at the border, people and goods, and transport facilities system. ▪ In general, source of information is available in Yunnan particular at departments of customs, immigration and transport. Sharing information is depend on law of the country. ▪ In addition, department of commerce in Yunnan also develop online single window. It would be a good opportunity to discuss with Luang Namtha for integrating it to the GTIC.

Workshop 2: Form consensus on communication and data sharing mechanism between two bordering provinces.

China Lao PDR ▪ As noticed, the GTIC have different goal ▪ Suggested to have hotline and emergency comprising of facilities, infrastructure and case contact. At some situation, transportation information. This should be an information have an accident, the driver hardly to call right connectivity for two border provinces. person. The emergency contact needs to provide in GTIC. ▪ In general, Laos hold various meeting with concerned stakeholders such as Public Work and Transport at 2 times/year, customs for 1 time / year and immigration for 3 moths/time.

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Workshop 3: The possible GTICS development strategy for data collection, inputs, translation, updating, sharing, system management, GTICS promotion at provincial level.

China Lao PDR ▪ Proposed to have leading organization and ▪ Proposed to have main responsible main coordinator for dealing with the GTIC organization and/or person for 2 sides officially. project. Budget is need to support person and ▪ Request MI come out with requirement on what organization for sharing and updating kind of data and model are needed. So, they information. can coordinate with related organization in the ▪ Proposed to conduct meeting regularly base on province and provide information accordingly. the consensus of both sides. ▪ Request each stakeholder in the province providing information to MI. ▪ The GTIC can be access through website and mobile. ▪ MI should inform stakeholders if it’s ready to use. ▪ The GTIC platform should link to international platform. However, it depends on budget and national strategy. ▪ When the GTIC is popular and lot of followers, MI may move forward to commercial model. ▪ Hope to see the GTIC development and sharing information with stakeholders.

▪ Conclusion and way forward

The provincial consultative workshop was conducted in a highly interactive environment with the facilitation of MI project team in collaboration with participants from Yunnan and Luang Namtha provinces. Significant information and feedbacks from group discussions were achieved and met the objectives and expected outcomes of the workshop. At the end of the workshop, the representatives from China and Lao PDR expressed their appreciation to MI, project team and donor for organizing the provincial consultative workshop between the two border provinces, and showed willingness for providing further support in future activities of the project.

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▪ Participants List:

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2.5 Chiangrai Province, Thailand and Bokeo, Province, Lao PDR

▪ Venue

The workshop conducted with representatives from the Provincial governments and private sectors of Chiangrai Province, Thailand and Bokeo Province, Lao PDR on September 5, 2019 at Chiang Khong District, Chiang Rai Province, Thailand.

▪ Participants

Twenty-five (25) mid-senior representatives from the Provincial government agencies and private sectors of Chiang Rai and Bokeo Provinces attended the workshop. The participants represented Provincial Municipalities, Land Transport, Customs and Immigration Departments, Transport and Logistics Companies, Provincial Chamber of Commerce, and Special Economic Zones. The composition of participants by gender and sector is shown the Table 7.

Table 7. The composition of participants by gender and sector

Country Border Public Private Total Male Female Male Female Thailand Chiang Khong 3 3 6 3 15 Lao PDR Bokeo 6 0 4 0 10 Total 9 3 10 3 25

▪ Group Discussions

The discussion results were summarized as below:

Workshop 1: To validate information categories and information needs from provincial perspective. The information and categories were identified by MI according to the discussions of two regional Workshops at MI in 2017 and 2018 as well as the consultative meetings in capital city of each GMS country in 2018”

Thailand Lao PDR ▪ Import and Export Form and tariff/Fee for GMS ▪ Proposed to support budget for accident area countries should be added. along R3A including forming Disaster ▪ Propose MI to update and share information Preparedness Center. every month. ▪ Consider to revise regulation for truck engine

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▪ and documents for driver (not border pass) that allow for both in Thailand and Lao PDR.

Workshop 2: Form consensus on communication and data sharing mechanism between two bordering provinces.

Thailand Lao PDR / Vietnam ▪ The province organized a meeting with Bokeo ▪ Conducted regular meeting with once a year with involvement of concerned representatives of two provinces. The meeting government agencies. comprised of ▪ In addition, the province organized a meeting o Department of Public Work and with involvement of Three countries namely Transport, Thailand – Laos and China. o Provincial Chamber of Commerce, ▪ Specific government agencies related to border o Customs, such as customs, livestock, highway, o Immigration, immigration and quarantine conducted a o Business Association. meeting every 3 months.

Workshop 3: The possible GTICS development strategy for data collection, inputs, translation, updating, sharing, system management, GTICS promotion at provincial level.

Thailand Cambodia ▪ Propose to form organization together with ▪ Proposed to set up or form national responsible person at provincial level for coordination mechanism between two updating information. provinces and other related organization. ▪ The meeting report conducted by each ▪ GPS and technologies for vehicle and driving province, it should be shared with MI for are needed to establish. posting it to the GTIC. ▪ Request to cooperate and share information to ▪ Create Suggestions Box and/or web board at the system for both sides. the system.

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▪ Conclusion and way forward

The provincial consultative workshop was conducted in a highly interactive environment with the facilitation of MI project team in collaboration with all the participants. Significant information and feedbacks from group discussions were achieved and met the objectives and expected outcomes of the workshop. The representatives from both provinces supported the project activities and intervention through development of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Transport Information Connectivity System (GTICS) for sharing information on cross border transport and trade along the GMS economic corridors.

At the end of the workshop, the representative from each province expressed their appreciation to MI, project team and donor for organizing the provincial consultative workshop between the two border provinces, and showed willingness for providing further support in future activities of the project. The MI project team concluded the workshop program by thanking all representatives from the two border provinces for spending time to attend workshop and providing useful information and feedback to the project.

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▪ Participants List:

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2.6 Mae Sot, Tak Province, Thailand and Myawaddy, Kayin State, Myanmar

▪ Venue

The workshop conducted between representatives from the Provincial Governments and private sectors of Tak Province, Thailand and Kayin State, Myanmar on September 10, 2019 at Centara Hotel, Maesot, Thailand.

▪ Participants

Total 28 delegates attended the workshop and was consisted of 13 delegates from Mae Sot, Tak Province, Thailand and 15 delegates from Myawaddy, Kayin State, Myanmar. Delegates from both provinces represented for Department of Land Transport, Ministry of Commerce, Customs Department, Provincial Government Office, Local Chamber of Commerce, including other relevant agencies. Detail information of the delegates is displayed as shown in table 8.

Table 8: The composition of participants by gender and sector

Country Border Public Private Total Male Female Male Female Myanmar Myawaddy 8 2 4 1 15 Thailand Mae Sot 6 2 3 2 13 Total 14 4 7 3 28

▪ Group Discussions

The workshop participants worked in groups by country. The country groups consisted of members from both provincial governments and private stakeholders. The discussions results were summarized as following.

Workshop 1 : Validate transport and trade information category and source of information from provincial perspective, which have been identified by MI according to the discussion of two regional workshops at MI in 2017 and 2018 as well as the consultative Workshops at national level of each country in 2018.

Thailand Myanmar Information validated Information validated

Delegates validated cross-border transport and Delegates validated cross-border transport and trade information categories: geographic trade information categories: geographic information, public services, private facility information, public services, private facility P a g e 50 | 68

services, Law and regulation information and services, Law and regulation information and agreed on the system information category and agreed on the system information category and highlighted following information which are highlighted following information which are essential for Mae Sot-Myawaddy Border area. essential for Mae Sot-Myawaddy Border area - Information of safe parking area is important - Detail information of Thai-Myanmar for Thai truck operators running in the Friendship Bridge II, including its facility border area in Mae Sot and Myawaddy. information because the bridge II will include - Information about a focal agency or new facilities and structures in both sides. agencies or a center for both sides of - Banking and insurance information for Myawaddy and Mae Sot that are assigned logistics and truck operators for flow of cross-border information. - Information for parking areas, resting areas, - Business information such as profiles of warehouse and traffic condition is important companies that local government for day to day operations for cross-border organizations need to know. traders - Emergency contact information to be shared - Cross-border transport and trade in both language: Myanmar and English, in procedures and documents: addition to Thai. (i) Procedures and documents should be in - Cross-Border procedures and opening line with recent implementation of hours information will be updated and IICBTA between Mae Sot and shared after the Bridge II opens. Myawaddy. Myawaddy customs - Updated statistics about cross-border department issues TAD transport and trade activities such as list of permit/certificate to truck operators after registered truck operators, cross-border they register at National Transport trade and transport volume and value, any Facilitation Committee (NTFC). fee related with cross-border activities. (ii) Vehicle & Cargo Control System - Information of investment activities in Tak (VCCS) will be installed at the Bridge II SEZ and business activities that would be a and Myawaddy Trade Zone promotion tool of the GTICS to attract (iii) MACCS system is being operated at logistics and transport users. Myawaddy and information about Source of information MACCS system procedures should be - Tak Provincial Government Office for included. general information of Tak Province - Myanmar Vehicle Laws Revisions were in - Tak Land Transport Department for cross- 1989 and 2015. The latest revision will be border transport information, traffic released at the end of 2019. information, road sign, condition etc. - Myanmar Laws and regulations related with - National Transport Facilitation Committee cross-border transport and trade activities especially for information about IICBTA. are always in English and Myanmar - Tak CCI and logistics association language. - Central Government Department including BOT. Source of information - ADB and UN source for other regional - Myanmar Customs Department, Department information and update information. of Transport, NTFC for IICBTA procedures, - Other relevant government agencies; related documents, information Other suggestions - Myawaddy CCI, Local Banks and Insurance Thai delegates also agreed with suggestions made Companies for banking and insurance by Myanmar delegate, in addition to following information and other private facility suggestions: information. - The GTICS team should collaborate with - Myawaddy Logistics Association public sectors because most of information - Useful websites: Myanmar Trade Portal, source is from public sectors at provincial Ministry of Commerce, Myanmar Customs level. Department, Ministry of Transport and - Both sides should share implementation Communication. status of CBTA online like GTICS or border - www.myanmartradeportal.gov.mm agency meetings. - www.commerce.gov.mm - Authorized center to be established to check - www.myanmarcustoms.gov.mm/ P a g e 51 | 68

and update information regularly and the - www.motc.gov.mm/ center should include persons or translators - ADB and UN source for other regional for both languages. information and update information. - Other relevant government agencies.

Other suggestions - GTICS should share summary of clauses and articles of legal documents which will be useful for local transport operators and should be translated in English as well as in bi-lingual if possible. - Legal documents should be updated and otherwise the operators will be confused - GTICS platform to be integrated with tracking system of the private company. - News & Event page to be included especially for the cross-border events and activities - Trade and transport statistics to be in English and US currency. - Focal person to be appointed to check and update information regularly.

Workshop 2: Form consensus on communication and data sharing mechanism between two bordering provinces.

Thailand Myanmar Both groups expressed the consensus on sharing mechanisms which are mentioned as below: - Township Border Committee -it is constituted with provincial governments, immigration, police and security force along with the customs and ministry of commerce from both sides: Mae Sot and Myawaddy. The committee has frequent meetings for the cross-border issues as well as security issues in the area. - Agency to agency: it means that the department form Mae Sot usually meets the same department from Myawaddy: for example; the customs department of Mae Sot meets the Myawaddy customs department to share the customs information and to discuss the issues for both customs agencies. Other agencies also follow this exercise. - Private sectors from both sides meet and coordinate via CCI monthly or quarterly meetings or occasional meetings. - Twin city center: MOU was done to establish a Twin-City Center at Mea Sot and delegates from both Mae Sot and Myawadddy are possible to meet each other and share information related with P a g e 52 | 68

cross border activities. - 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.

Workshop 3: The possible GTICS development strategy for data collection, inputs, translation, updating, sharing, system management, GTICS promotion at provincial level

Thailand Myanmar Both discussion results are as below:

- 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. - It was suggested that the GTICS team should form a provincial team that can facilitate system management and GTICS promotion as needed in the provincial level. - MI team should collaborate with the local stakeholder in terms of data collection and updating information as required.

▪ Conclusion and way forward

The MI-GTICS team organized one day workshop in Mae Sot with three predetermined objectives as a part of the twin-border provincial consultation workshops of the GTICS project. Total 28 delegates from Mae Sot, Tak Province, Thailand and Myawaddy, Kayin State, Myanmar attended and participated in consultation discussion sessions. The GTICS collected inputs, suggestions and discussion results provided by the provincial delegates who also reflected the previous information of the GTICS workshops and meetings at regional and national level held in 2017 and 2018 during the workshop. It is noted that similar workshops are necessary to organize and to consult with twin-border provincial representatives and should be included as a part of the GTICS Development Strategy, especially for updating system information related with the cross-border transport and trade activities.

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▪ Participants List

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2.7 Mae Sai District, Chiang Rai province, Thailand and Thachilek, Shan State, Myanmar

▪ Venue

The workshop conducted between representatives from the Provincial Governments and private sectors of Chiang rai Province, Thailand and Shan State, Myanmar on September 12, 2019 at Maekhong Delta Boutique Hotel, Thailand.

▪ Participants

Total 35 delegates attended the workshop. Among them, 19 delegates were from Mae Sai, Chiang Rai Province, Thailand and 16 delegates from Tachilek, Shan State, Myanmar. Delegates from both provinces represented for Department of Land Transport, Ministry of Commerce, Customs Department, Provincial Government Office, Local Chamber of Commerce, including other relevant agencies. Detail information of the delegates is displayed as shown in table 9.

Table 9: The composition of participants by gender and sector

Country Border Public Private Total Male Female Male Female Myanmar Tachilek 8 2 3 3 16 Thailand Mae Sai 0 3 11 5 19 Total 8 5 14 8 35

▪ Group Discussions

The workshop participants worked in groups by countries. The country groups consisted of members from both provincial governments and private stakeholders. The discussions results were summarized as following.

Workshop 1 : Validate transport and trade information category and source of information from provincial perspective, which have been identified by MI according to the discussion of two regional workshops at MI in 2017 and 2018 as well as the consultative Workshops at national level of each country in 2018.

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Thailand Myanmar

Information validated Information validated

Delegates validated cross-border transport and Delegates validated cross-border transport and trade information categories: geographic trade information categories: geographic information, public services, private facility information, public services, private facility services, Law and regulation information and services, Law and regulation information and agreed on the system information category and agreed on the system information category and highlighted following information which are highlighted following information which are essential for Mae Sai-Tachilek Border area essential for Mae Sai-Tachilek Border area - Information for river transport such as water - As a part of geographic information, navigation, pier facilities, port facilities, information of road and bridge is essentially warehouse, etc. is important to include in required and should be updated for the the system because some regions in GMS system users because road quality and are using river transport and logistics. capacity are limited in this border area - Security information for land and water especially in Tachilek. transportation is to be shared in the system. - Traffic information needed because traffic - In road and route information, formal and jam is one of the challenging issues for both informal routes should be displayed in the sides. system map because some informal routes - Information of logistics routes in Thailand for and access roads are important in border Myanmar trucks should be clearly defined region. and shared in the platform for transport - In land transport information, railway operators. transport will become important in near - Under public service information, (i) future in this border region because in future information of border crossing fee should be regions will be connected by new railway published transparently in the GTICS routes. Thus, information about railway platform and border crossing fee for facilities and routes should be included in different passengers and types of trucks the system. should be flexible and fair, (ii) border arrival - Since border points need access to the visa information for both sides but so far airports of the region, detail illustration of Myanmar is not granted yet for border airport information, access roads and other arrival visa by Thailand, and (iii) contacts of facilities will be required for most of the road police and border force, including hot system users. line to be shared for truck drivers and - Any information about land transportation logistics operators. and access roads to the cross border SEZ - Cross-border transport and trade (CBSEZs) in the region should be provided procedures and documents at least to be in in the system. English. - Information about a focal agency or - List of cross-border transport operators, agencies or a center for both sides of including their vehicle information, driver Tachileik and Mae Sai that are assigned for information, goods’ information should be flow of cross-border information. updated and shared in the system. - Business information such as profiles of - Banking and insurance information for companies that local government logistics and truck operators organizations need to know. - Information for parking areas, resting areas, - Emergency contact information to be shared warehouse and traffic condition is important in both language: Myanmar and English, in for day to day operations for cross-border addition to Thai. traders - Updated statistics about cross-border - Myanmar Vehicle Laws Revisions were in transport and trade activities such as list of 1989 and 2015. The latest revision will be registered truck operators, cross-border released at the end of 2019. trade and transport volume and value, any - Myanmar Laws and regulations related with fee related with cross-border activities. cross-border transport and trade activities are always in English and Myanmar P a g e 57 | 68

language.

Source of information Source of information - Chiang Rai Provincial Government Office for - Myanmar Customs Department, Department general information of Chiang Rai Province of Transport, NTFC for IICBTA procedures, - Chiang Rai Land Transport Department for related documents, information cross-border transport information, traffic - Myawaddy CCI, Local Banks and Insurance information, road sign, condition etc. Companies for banking and insurance - National Transport Facilitation Committee information and other private facility especially for information about CBTA. information. - Chiang Rai CCI and logistics association - Myawaddy Logistics Association - Central Government Department including - Useful websites: Myanmar Trade Portal, BOT. Ministry of Commerce, Myanmar Customs - ADB and UN source for other regional Department, Ministry of Transport and information and update information. Communication. - Other relevant government agencies; - www.myanmartradeportal.gov.mm - www.commerce.gov.mm Other suggestions - www.myanmarcustoms.gov.mm/ - www.motc.gov.mm/ Thai delegates also agreed with suggestions made - ADB and UN source for other regional by Myanmar delegate, in addition to following information and update information. suggestions: - Other relevant government agencies. - MI GTICS Team facilitates in forming a single committee that will coordinate flow of Other suggestions information sharing between agencies of - GTICS should share summary of clauses both sides and verify information for GTICS and articles of legal documents which will be system. useful for local transport operators and - The GTICS team should collaborate with should be translated in English as well as in public sectors because most of information bi-lingual if possible. source is from public sectors at provincial - Legal documents should be updated and level. otherwise the operators will be confused - Authorized center to be established to check - GTICS platform to be integrated with and update information regularly and the tracking system of the private company. center should include persons or translators - News & Event page to be included for both languages. especially for the cross-border events and activities - Trade and transport statistics to be in English and US currency. - Focal person to be appointed to check and update information regularly.

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Workshop 2: Form consensus on communication and data sharing mechanism between two bordering provinces.

Thailand Myanmar Both groups expressed the consensus on sharing mechanisms which are mentioned as below: ▪ Both sides will 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 include that the committee collect update information, verify and upload them in the system on behalf of both sides and MI GTICS team. ▪ Township Border Committee -it is constituted with provincial governments, immigration, police and security force along with the customs and ministry of commerce from both sides: Mae Sai and Tachilek. The committee has frequent meetings for the cross-border issues as well as security issues in the area. ▪ Agency to agency: it means that the department form Mae Sai usually meets the same department from Tachilek: for example; the customs department of Mae Sai meets the Tachilek customs department to share the customs information and to discuss the issues for both customs agencies. Other agencies also follow this exercise. ▪ Private sectors from both sides meet and coordinate via CCI monthly or quarterly meetings or occasional meetings. ▪ 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.

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Workshop 3: The possible GTICS development strategy for data collection, inputs, translation, updating, sharing, system management, GTICS promotion at provincial level

Thailand Myanmar Discussion results are as below:

▪ The authorized private contractor can be hired and assigned for system maintenance and management and even for the system promotion under the close guidance of MI GTICS team and the admins in charge for each country. ▪ The admins or focal person of each country can coordinate with concerned departments to verify information or assist them in uploading data, information and documents in the system. ▪ MI team should collaborate with the local stakeholder in terms of data collection and updating information as required. ▪ 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. Private information can be collected from the local CCI and associations and similarly public information from public sectors. ▪ It was suggested that the GTICS team should form a provincial team that can facilitate system management and GTICS promotion as needed in the provincial level.

▪ Conclusion and way forward

The MI-GTICS team organized one day workshop in Mae Sai with three predetermined objectives as a part of the twin-border provincial consultation workshops of the GTICS project. Total 35 delegates from Mae Sai, Chiang Rai Province, Thailand and Tachilek, Shan State, Myanmar attended and participated in consultation discussion sessions. The GTICS collected inputs, suggestions and discussion results provided by the provincial delegates who also reflected the previous information of the GTICS workshops and meetings at regional and national level held in 2017 and 2018 during the workshop. It is noted that similar workshops are necessary to organize and to consult with twin-border provincial representatives and should be included as a part of the GTICS Development Strategy, especially for updating system information related with the cross-border transport and trade activities.

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▪ Participants List

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2.8 Tay Ninh province, Vietnam

▪ Venue

The workshop conducted with representatives from private sectors of Tay Ninh and Ca Mau provinces, Vietnam on August 29, 2019 at Vinpearl Hotel, Tay Ninh province, Vietnam.

▪ Participants

Twenty (20) representatives from the business sectors of Tay Ninh and Ca Mau Provinces, Vietnam attended the workshop. They represented Transport and Logistics Companies, Provincial Chamber of Commerce and Industries, and Small and Medium-sized Enterprise. The composition of participants by gender is shown the Table 10.

It was noted that the representatives from government sector were not able to present in the workshop. The reasons informed to the MI were short notice about the workshop, not-enough-time for preparation and no approval on travel mission from their offices.

Table 10. The composition of participants by gender and sector

Country Border Public Private Total Male Female Male Female Vietnam Moc Bai 0 0 11 9 20 Total 0 0 11 9 20

▪ Group Discussions

The discussion results were summarized as below: Workshop 1: To validate information categories and information needs from provincial perspective. The information and categories were identified by MI according to the discussions of two regional Workshops at MI in 2017 and 2018 as well as the consultative meetings in capital city of each GMS country in 2018”

Vietnam Information categories on geography, public services, private services and laws. - Agreed on the information categories

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- Some additional points: o Agreements on the cargo weight loading among the GMS countries, o Information of goods loaded streams, o Product supply o Warehouses o Enterprise information o Import-export regulations and disciplines - The sources of data and information can be obtained from concerned government agencies and private sectors. - Creating the web site of the provincial Entrepreneur Associations in the provinces with border line.

Workshop 2: Form consensus on communication and data sharing mechanism between two bordering provinces.

Vietnam - The two border provinces need to share the common database. - Creating the hotline, GPS, Internet Roaming or social network group between border provinces. - Need a regularly review meeting conducted in English and Vietnamese.

Workshop 3: The possible GTICS development strategy for data collection, inputs, translation, updating, sharing, system management, GTICS promotion at provincial level.

Vietnam - Agreed to maintain and promote the GTICS at provincial level. - Proposed to assign the Trade Promoting Center in charge of controlling and managing the data. - 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. - GTICS website should use Vietnamese, English, Chinese and Cambodian language.

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▪ Conclusion and way forward

The provincial consultative workshop was successfully conducted with the facilitation of MI project team in collaboration with all the participants. Significant information and feedbacks from group discussions were obtained, and the objectives and expected outcomes of the workshop were met. The representatives from business sector of Tay Ninh and Ca Mau provinces showed full support to the project activities and intervention through development of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Transport Information Connectivity System (GTICS). They viewed it as an important mechanism for sharing information on cross border transport and trade between the two border provinces as well as countries along the GMS economic corridors.

At the end of the workshop, the representatives from Tay Ninh and Ca Mau provinces thanked MI and project team for organizing the provincial consultative workshop. They hoped that inputs and suggestions provided to the workshop would be helpful to the project. The MI project team concluded the workshop program by thanking all representatives from the two border provinces for spending time to attend workshop and providing useful information and feedback to the project.

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▪ Participants List

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Greater Mekong Subregion The Greater Mekong Sub-Region (GMS) comprises of five Southeast Asian countries and two provinces of China sharing the Mekong River, namely Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Yunnan Province, Guangxi Autonomous Region of the People Republic of China.

About Mekong Institute

Mekong Institute (MI) is a GMS intergovernmental organization (IGO) working closely with the governments of six countries to promote regional development and cooperation through programs and projects in three thematic areas of agricultural development and commercialization, trade and investment facilitation, and innovation and technology connectivity.

Mekong Institute (MI) 123, Mittraphap Road, Muang District Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand Tel: (+66) 43 202411-2, or (+66) 43 203656-7 Fax: (+66) 43 203656 Email: [email protected] Web site: www.mekonginstitute.org P a g e 68 | 68