BANGKOK, Aug 24 – Finland today committed $14 million for the second phase of a program to help the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) achieve environmentally-friendly economic growth.
Finland’s latest commitment follows the $4.9 million it contributed to the 2006-2012 pilot phase of the Core Environment Program and Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative or CEP-BCI, a program administered by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). A co-financing agreement for the new phase was signed this morning at the Embassy of Finland in Bangkok.
Finnish ambassador to Thailand Sirpa Mäenpää, signing on behalf of her government, said the environment program fits well with Finland’s regional development assistance priorities in the Mekong region and globally.
The guiding principles of Finland’s new development program – human development, accountable societies, green economy and human rights – are well integrated into CEP-BCI, which also links fully with the country’s priorities in the Mekong region by promoting transboundary cooperation and regionally adopted high standards of environmental management to ensure sustainable growth, according to a statement released by the ADB.
CEP-BCI focuses on strengthening GMS capacity and collaboration in environmental planning and monitoring, as well as conservation and livelihood improvement in some of the subregion’s most important biodiversity landscapes.
The programme is overseen by the GMS Working Group on Environment, consisting of representatives from the environment ministries of the six GMS countries: Cambodia, People’s Republic of China, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam.
