The East–West Economic corridor is an economic development program initiated in order to promote development and integration of 5 Southeast Asian countries, namely:

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. The concept was agreed upon in 1998 at the Ministerial Conference of the Greater Mekong Subregion, organized in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. This corridor became operational on December 12, 2006. The economic corridor is created based on a road of 1,450 km with the west end at port city of

Mawlamyine Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing; , ; ; , ), formerly Moulmein, is the fourth-largest city in Myanmar (Burma), ''World Gazetteer'' southeast of Yangon and south of Thaton, at the mouth of Thanlwin (Salween) River. Mawlamyine was an ancient ...

(Myanmar), crossing Kayin Division, Thai provinces of Tak, Sukhothai,

Phitsanulok Phitsanulok (, ) is a city municipality in northern Thailand and the capital of Phitsanulok province. It had a city population of 60,827 and an urban population of approximately 200,000 in 2024, making it Thailand's 19th-most populous city p ...

, Phetchabun,

Khon Kaen Khon Kaen (, ) is the capital of Khon Kaen province and the List of municipalities in Thailand#Largest cities by urban population, fourth-largest city in Thailand. It is one of the four major cities of Isan, Northeast Thailand, also known as the ...

Kalasin Kalasin () is a city ('' thesaban mueang'') in northeast Thailand, the capital of Kalasin Province. As of 2015, it has a population of 34,429 It covers the whole ''tambon ''Tambon'' (, ) is a local governmental unit in Thailand. Below district ...

and Mukdahan, the Laotian province of Savannakhet, and the Vietnamese provinces of Quảng Trị, and city of

Huế Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) is the southernmost coastal Municipalities of Vietnam, city in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quảng ...

and

Đà Nẵng Da Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons (, ) is the list of cities in Vietnam, fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the Western Pacific Ocean of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River (Vietnam), Hàn R ...

as the east end. From Myanmar it is further connected to India via India–Myanmar–Thailand Trilateral Highway which is being upgraded, with most part already completed and remaining upgrade will be completed by 2020. By using the East–West Economic Corridor, the travel time between

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

and

Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

is three days, compared with the two to three weeks needed for conventional marine transportation via the

Straits of Malacca The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, long and from wide, between the Malay Peninsula to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connecting the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and the South China Sea (Pa ...

Corridor development

Economic impact

Tariffs for Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam will be abolished by 2018, all of have the cross-border transport agreement to simplify logistics and customs procedures. These 5 nations with combined population of 250 million, have US$32 billion trade with each other (2016). India is individually negotiating a road vehicle agreement with these nations.

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank to promote social and economic development in Asia. The bank is headquartered in Metro Manila, Philippines and maintains 31 field offices around the world. The bank was establishe ...

study shows that the improved road and rail links, elimination of tariffs and non-tariff barriers, will result in a benefit of at least $568 billion to South Asian and South East Asian nations.Regional road and rail projects inching forward to facilitate greater linkage
The Nation, 5 October 2015.

Immigration and customs

All the border crossings from India, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia to Vietnam already have the integrated immigration and customs checkpost that also allow foreign tourists with evisas.Overland Thai borders to Myanmar open to e-visa travellers
PhuketNews, 2016.

Road highway upgrade

Road network from India to Vietnam exists, which is being upgraded. Bangkok to Cambodian Capital city of Phenom Phen road upgrade was already complete. Vietnam and Cambodia signed a MoU to upgrade the 195 km long Ho Chi Minh City and Phnom Penh highway. Second bridge to Mae Sot will open in 2018.Mekong region racing to bolster cross-border logistics
Nikkei, Sept 2017.

Rail connectivity development

Rail network from India to Vietnam has several missing links, which are in the various stages of being planned or constructed.

Gallery

File:Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge Gate.jpg, A gate on the Thai side of the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge, linking Myanmar's

Kayin State Kayin State (, ; ; , ), formerly known as Karen State, is a Administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. The capital city is Hpa-An, also spelled Pa-An. The terrain of the state is mountainous; with the Dawna Range running along the ...

with Thailand's Tak Province. File:PakseBridge.jpg, This bridge over the

Mekong River The Mekong or Mekong River ( , ) is a transboundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of rivers by length, twelfth-longest river and List of longest rivers of Asia, the third-longest in Asia with an estimated l ...

connects Northeast Thailand and Southern Laos, an important transport project of the Corridor. File:Cửa khẩu quốc tế Lao Bảo.jpg, The Lao Bảo border gate (to Lao P.D.R) in Quảng Trị Province, Việt Nam. File:Hai Van Tunnel North Entrance.jpg, A tunnel through the Hai Van mountain range in Vietnam opens the way to sea ports in the South China Sea.

References

Citations

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:East-West Economic Corridor Greater Mekong Subregion Economy of Thailand Economy of Vietnam Economy of Laos Economy of Myanmar