models of northeast asian economic cooperation_gti projects and institutions, dprk withdrawal

Greater Tumen Initiative 1

Greater Tumen InitiativeA regional programme of cooperation in Northeast Asia

Dr. Nataliya Yacheistova

Director, Tumen Secretariat / UNDP

4th Annual Conference Northeast Asia Professors AssociationGreater Tumen Initiative and Local Economic Cooperation in NEA

17 -- 18 May 2010, Chuncheon, ROK


Regional Cooperation in Northeast Asia (NEA)

NEA region, including China, DPRK, Mongolia, ROK, Russia & Japan, possesses comprehensive economic power and enormous potential for investment and job opportunities

Regional trade and investments were growing rapidly in recent years, driven by easy access to cheap capital and high international consumer demand

Nevertheless, the development of NEA region remains bounded with many obstacles. It is the only region in the world without internal Free Trade

Agreements and it doesnt have any proper institutional platform for joint cooperation

To promote economic growth, closer regional cooperation in NEA is needed, which could be a unique opportunity for NEA countries to improve the business

environment and to secure sustainable economic development


Northeast Asias Share in world GDP

3

1980 1990 2000 2008 2010 2014Nominal GDP %Japan 9.1 13.4 14.5 8.1 8.6 7.8China 2.6 1.7 3.7 7.1 8.7 11.1S. Korea 0.6 1.2 1.7 1.5 1.4 1.6

Mongolia 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0Russia Federation - 0.4 0.8 2.8 2.3 2.8China + S. Korea + Mongolia +Russia Federation - 3.3 6.2 11.4 12.4 15.5

Japan + China + S. Korea + Mongolia + Russia - 19.4 20.7 19.5 21.0 23.3

PPP GDP (%)Japan 7.9 9.1 7.6 6.3 5.9 5.4China 2.0 3.6 7.2 11.4 13.2 16.2S. Korea 0.8 1.4 1.8 1.9 1.9 2.0Mongolia 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0Russia Federation 4.2 2.7 3.3 3.0 3.0China + S. Korea + Mongolia +Russia Federation - 9.2 11.7 16.6 18.1 21.2

Japan + China + S. Korea + Mongolia + Russia - 19.2 19.3 22.9 24.1 26.5

Source : IMF World Economic Outlook, October 2009, Database


Greater Tumen Initiative (GTI)

The Greater Tumen Initiative (GTI) is a unique intergovernmental cooperation mechanism in NEA, supported by UNDP, with a membership of four countries:

China, Republic of Korea, Mongolia and Russia. We sincerely hope that DPRK,

which withdrew from GTI since 5 Nov. 2009, will return to the cooperation

program in the near future

Present geographical scope of GTI is as follows Chinas Northeastern provinces: Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia Eastern ports of the Republic of Korea Eastern provinces (aimags) of Mongolia: Dornod, Khentii and Sukhbaatar

Primorsky Territory of the Russian Federation


Greater Tumen Initiative (GTI)

Since its creation in 1995, the GTI program has served as a catalyst in expanding policy dialogues and strengthening

fundaments for sustainable developments in the region through

joint activities and projects

The main goal of GTI is to promote economic cooperation in Northeast Asia, in particular the Greater Tumen Region, to

achieve greater growth and sustainable development for the

people and countries in the region

The decision-making institution of GTI is the Consulatative Commission, composed of government officials from each

member countries (one Vice Ministerial level official and three

other officials). The coordination of GTI activities is undertaken

by the Tumen Secretariat, following the decisions of the GTI

Consultative Commission (CC). The annual meetings of the

Commission provide a unique platform for intergovernmental

exchanges among the member countries


Progress Achieved

8th meeting of the GTI Consultative Commission(Sept. 2005 - Changchun, China)

The member governments agreed to extend the 1995 agreements for next 10 years, to transform Tumen River Area Development Programme (TRADP) to the Greater Tumen Initiative (GTI), to expand geographical coverage, to take the full ownership of GTI

with the continuous support of UNDP

The meeting adopted the GTI Strategic Action Plan 2006-2015, identifying five priority sectors for joint cooperation: transport, energy, tourism, investment and environment

Changchun Agreement adopted

9th meeting of the GTI Consultative Commission(Nov. 2007 - Vladivostok, Russia)

A shift to a more pragmatic cooperation approach focusing on real sectors of economy. A number of GTI projects were earmarked for joint realization

The GTI Energy Board, Tourism Board, Environment Board and Business Advisory Council (BAC) were created

Vladivostok Declaration adopted

Energy

Investments

Environment

Tourism

Transport

Priority

Sectors


10th meeting of the GTI Consultative Commission(March 2009 - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia)

The Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce, Mr.Yi Xiaozhun was elected as the Chairperson of the Consultative Commission

The GTI Transport Board was established in order to develop a proper transport infrastructure and logistical network to support economic cooperation among GTI countries.

The meeting agreed on the establishment of the Trade Facilitation Committee with the purposes of technical and procedural facilitation of regional trade among the GTI countries.

The meeting recognized that the promotion of the GTI Projects (approved at the 9th CC Meeting) has been effectively undertaken by the Tumen Secretariat and the governments have agreed on concrete steps for continuing promotion and branding.

Ulaanbaatar Declaration adopted

Progress Achieved


Organizational Structure of GTI

Business Advisory

Council (BAC)

Decision making - the GTI Consultative Commission

Coordinating - the Tumen Secretariat (based in Beijing) and National Coordinators

Institutional Structures - Transport Board, Tourism Board, Energy Board, Environmental Board and BAC

GTI Consultative Commission

(Ministerial level)

Tumen Secretariat

Transport

Board

Tourism

Board

Environmental

Board

Energy

Board

Chairperson

National Coordinators

China: Ministry of Commerce

ROK: Ministry of Strategy and Finance

Mongolia: Ministry of Finance

Russia: Ministry of Economic DevelopmentChair: Mr. James Zimmerman

Co Chair: Mr. Wang Junhao


GTI Projects

Transport

1 NEA Ferry Route Border Infrastructure Framework

2 Modernization of Zarubino Port

3 Mongolia-China Railway Construction

4 Resuming Hunchun - Makhalino railway

5China Road, Harbor Project in the border between

China and DPRK

Energy 6 Capacity Building on GTI Energy at regional level

Tourism 7 Capacity Building on GTI Tourism at regional level

Investment 8Training Program for Officials from GTI Member

countries

Environment

9

GTI Environmental Cooperation: Focusing on Trans-

boundary Environmental Impact Assessment (TEIA)

in GTR and Environmental Standardization in the

Northeast Asia

10 Feasibility Study on Tumen River Water Protection


GTI Main Events in 2010

MONTH DATE EVENT VENUE

APRIL12 - 13 National Coordinators Meeting Beijing, China

19 - 20 4th BAC Meeting Changchun, China

MAY21-22 3rd GTI Tourism Board meeting Vladivostok, Russia

24 Workshop on Promoting GTI and NEA Cooperation Beijing, China

JUNE3 - tbc GTI Investment Workshop - BAC Manzhouli, China

24-25 1st Transport Board Meeting& Transport Workshop Pusan, ROK (tbc)

JULY

Beginning of July National Coordinators Meeting Beijing, China

26-27 (tbc) 1st Environmental Board Meeting Yanji, China (tbc)

23-31 2010 Tumen River Festival (hosted by Tumen City authorities) Tumen, China

AUGUST 31 (tbc) 5th BAC Meeting Changchun, China

SEPTEMBER

1 11th GTI Consultative Commission Meeting Changchun, China

1 Joint Meeting of BAC - CC Changchun, China

2 2010 NEA Economic Forum Changchun, China

2 1st GTI Local Development Forum Changchun, China

OCTOBER tbc 2nd GTI Energy Board Meeting Beijing, China

NOVEMBER tbc 1st GTI Trade Facilitation Committee Meeting tbc


Business Advisory Council (BAC)

GTI makes increasing efforts to fully involve the private sector into regional development. TheBusiness Advisory Council (BAC), established at the 9th meeting of the GTI Consultative

Commission, serves as a public private partnership platform for the active engagementbetween governments and the private sector, BAC helps directly improve the investment

climate in Northeast Asia by providing advice and feedback to policymakers, resulting in more

effective economic cooperation and greater opportunities for investors.

Members of the BAC have the opportunity to provide the investment climate in the region,seeking corresponding changes in economic policies. The unique mechanism of joint sessions

of the BAC and the Consultative Commission provides the opportunity for direct exchange

between business and government representatives.

11

What is BAC


Local Development Forum

At the 10th meeting of the Consultative Commission held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (March 2009), the member countries agreed to hold the Local Development Forum (LDF) in conjunction with CC meetings on the annual basis.

The Forum will contribute to bring sustainable development and attention to the local areas, and it finally can help overcome local barriers and challenges of progression on active and demand-driven development.

The LDF will mainly involve officials from local authorities from GTI member countries. Other participants will be consisted by officials from central governments of GTI member countries, public and private sectors, academics and non-governmental organizations. The total number of participants is expected to be about 70 persons.

The Local Development Forum will be held on 2 September 2010, at Changchun China.



The LDF will be designed to share and exchange dialogues on sustainable development with many

different public and private sectors; local and national governments, the representatives of academics,

media and non-governmental organizations

The Forum is also intended to tailor to suit the different needs of a particular area and focus on the each

local area, so that the local areas can build up the economic and social capacity to improve its economic

future and the quality of life.

In particular, it will contribute to stress the importance of the local level approach. The forum will

contribute to seek for balancing national development with local one, and for demonstrating effective local

solutions to economic development.

Objective


Organizational Framework for GTI Events in

September in Changchun

Date 31 August 2010

(Tuesday)

1 Sep 2010

(Wednesday)

2 Sep 2010

(Thursday)

Morning 10:00 12:00 Preparatory meeting

for National

Coordinators (tbc)

9:30 -12:00

11th CC meeting

9:00 - 9:30 (tbc)

Opening Ceremony of 6th Northeast Asia

Expo

9:30 -10:00 (tbc)

Visit of exhibition of the 6th Northeast

Asia Expo

10:30- 12:00 (tbc)

High-level Forum on Northeast Asia

Economic & Trade (organized by

Chinese Government)

Afternoon 14:00 15: 30 BAC Executive

Committee Meeting

(tbc)

16:00 18:00 BAC meeting (tbc)

14:00 15:45 continuation of 11th CC meeting

16:00 17:15 joint session of 11th CC and BAC meeting

17:15 17:45 finalizing 11th CC meeting

19:30 21:00 dinner reception, hosted by Chinese

government (tbc)

14:00 16:00 Northeast Asia Economic Forum

-Session 1: Investment and Trade

-Session 2: Tourism

16:30-17:30



GTI National Coordinators Meeting

The GTI National Coordinators Meeting was successfully heldon April 12 13, 2010 in Beijing, China. Governmentrepresentatives from the Peoples Republic of China, Mongolia,the Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation,

representatives from UNDP, Tumen Secretariat and the Legal

Advisor participated this meeting. The meeting was chaired by

Ms. Nataliya Yacheistova, Director of the GTI Secretariat.

The Agenda of the meeting included the issues of GTI legaltransition, current activities, preparation of 11th CC meeting etc.

All participants actively participated in the discussion,

considering the proposals drawn by the Tumen Secretariat and

reaching a number of agreements on the pending issues. The

participants agreed on the further promotion of private-public

dialogue through GTI BAC.

The meeting between BAC Chair Mr. James Zimmerman andGTI National Coordinators was held afterwards.

15


Models of Asia Regional Cooperation

ASEAN + 3

C

A

R

E

C

China,

Mongolia(+ Central Asia)

Potential NACO

China

Russia

Mongolia

ROK

DPRK

Japan

A

P

E

C

ASEAN (+ China,

ROK, Japan)

Six Party Talks GTI

Shanghai Cooperation

Organization

China, ROK,

Russia, Japan (+ other Asia

Pacific countries)

DPRK, ROK, China,

Japan, Russia, (+USA)

China, Russia,

Mongolia, ROK

China, Russia,

(+Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,

Tajikistan, Uzbekistan)

UNESCAP

G

M

S

China( + Cambodia, Vietnam, Lao

People's Democratic

Republic Thailand, Myanmar)

DPRK, ROK, China,

Japan, Russia, Mongolia ( + 47 other countries)


Challenges and Perspectives

Legal identity - GTI is transforming from the UNDP-supported program to an independent international organization, based on the decision of GTI countries and

UNDP

Funding - GTI is funded by the member countries through the GTI Common Fund, but a strong support from international and regional financial institutions is needed

Leadership & Partnership - the support of UNDP on GTI will remain a critical factor of its successful development. At the same time, the GTI member countries will play

the leading role in regional cooperation. Moreover, it would be of great use to discuss

regional cooperation in NEA at a higher political level

Strengthening regional cooperation - to cooperate closely with main partners in organizing and holding NEA forums and to make them more effective

How to better institutionalize the GTI multilateral cooperation in NEA?


Thank you!

Dr. Nataliya Yacheistova

Director of Tumen Secretariat / UNDP

Beijing, China

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.tumenprogram.org

models of northeast asian economic cooperation_gti projects and institutions, dprk withdrawal

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