H.E. Mr. Maris Sangiampongsa, Minister of Foreign Affairs, will accompany the Prime Minister to the 8^th Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Summit and the 10th Ayeyawady - Chao Phraya - Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) Summit, on 6 – 7 November 2024, in Kunming, Yunnan Province, People’s Republic of China.

The People’s Republic of China is hosting and chairing the 8^th GMS Summit under the theme “Towards a Better Community Through Innovation-driven Development,” which will be the first physical GMS Summit since 2018. In this Summit, GMS leader will endorse the (1) Draft Joint Summit Declaration of the 8^th GMS Summit and (2) the GMS Innovation Strategy for Development 2030. The meeting will also review the annual achievement of GMS cooperation, especially the implementation of GMS Cross-Border Transport Agreement (CBTA) early harvest, which came into force earlier this year.

The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), as the current ACMECS Chair, will host the 10th ACMECS Summit under the theme “Towards Seamless Connectivity for Mekong Sub-regional Integration.” As the first in-person Summit since 2020, the Meeting will adopt the Vientiane Declaration of the 10th ACMECS Summit, which reflects the implementation progress under three main pillars of the ACMECS Master Plan (2019-2023), and endorse New Zealand as the new ACMECS Development Partner. In addition, the Meeting will welcome Thailand’s proposal of the Concept Note on Water Resources Management in the Mekong Region to be incorporated as an additional annex of the ACMECS Master Plan – aiming to enhance cooperation and increase effectiveness of water resources management among Member Countries in both short-term and long-term periods.