Thailand and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU), aiming to support economic development in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) nations. The document was signed in Bangkok on October 15 by Newin Sinsiri, President of Thailand's Neighboring Countries Economic Development Cooperation Agency (NEDA), and James A. Nugent, Director General of ADB's Southeast Asia Department. Under the agreement, ADB and NEDA will jointly support development programmes in transport, energy, urban development, special economic zones, health and education. The forms of cooperation include co-financing, knowledge sharing and capacity building based on common areas of interest and the expertise of each organisation, as well as the priority areas of the targeted countries. Besides, the two sides consider the possibility of funding economic development in towns in Myanmar, such as Myawaddy, Hpa-An, and Mawlamyine in a bid to boost the economic growth of the East-West Corridor which runs through Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar. The Manila-based ADB has provided more than 6 billion USD for investment and over 100 million USD for technical assistance in the region over the past 20 years through a wide variety of schemes ranging from transport infrastructure to communicable disease controls. The Greater Mekong Subregion comprises Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.-VNA