Your Excellency, Mr. Vo Hong Phuc,

Minister of Planning and Investment and Chairman of the 16th GMS
Ministerial Conference;

Your Excellency, Mr. Lawrence Greenwood,

Vice President of the Asian Development Bank;

Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen:

Thank you for the great honour of being invited to participate
in this ministerial meeting of the Greater Mekong Subregion.

I wish to thank the Government and people of the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam for their warm and generous welcome to the
beautiful historic city of Hanoi as it approaches its Millennium
celebration. 

The International Organization for Migration is proud of its
long-standing relationship with the Governments and people of this
Subregion spanning more than 30 years. IOM has offices and projects
in all six GMS Member States including our Asian Regional
Office.

IOM also cherishes its partnership with the Asian Development
Bank - a partnership that seeks to reap the benefits of human
mobility for human development.  

I would like to focus my brief remarks today more generally on the
role of migration in today's globalized world and broadly on two
fundamental issues. They are the positive contribution of migrants
to the economic prosperity of this sub-region; and the role of
partnerships - at the national, regional and international levels
– in ensuring effective migration management.  

In doing so, I would like to express my congratulations to the
ministers on the close attention they pay to migration.

But first, a brief introduction to the fundamental importance of
migration to development:

International migration is linked inescapably to globalization
– that is, the combination of distance-shrinking technology
and cheaper travel, free flow of goods, services and capital but
also increasing numbers of people to new or evolving markets.

Today it's clear that we live in the era of the greatest human
mobility in recorded history. Not percentage-wise, but in terms of
number of people. By next year, there will be an estimated 214
million international migrants in the world. I have made the point
that if these people were constituted as a nation, it would be the
fifth most populous in the world. The more than 300 billion dollars
that they sent home last year to developing countries alone is
larger than the gross domestic product of a number of industrial
countries. So they would be a major power, in that sense alone.

Yet, leaders and policymakers in many parts of the world have
paid relatively little attention to migration as an essential
ingredient in our globalizing world.  In a very real sense,
migration is the “stepchild” of globalization.

A notable exception can be the Greater Mekong Subregion, one of
the globe's most progressive and fastest growing regions – a
region in which there is a growing appreciation that goods,
services and people must move in tandem. 

Here, in the GMS, we see first hand that human mobility and
connectivity have resulted in rapid economic growth; the wide scale
transfer of innovation and technology; enhanced commerce and
improved border management, and customs controls.  

The endorsement here of a strategic plan to promote further
progress in trade and transport underscores this
commitment.     

With this introduction, let me make two key points.

I. Migration Gains 

This region has had sustained economic growth - averaging a
remarkable 7.5 per cent per year since 2003.  This spectacular
growth is attributed in large measure to sound economic policies;
the growth is also due, however, to a rich labour force- and that
labour force includes a wealth of migrant workers - more than 2.5
million and possibly as high as 3 million.  

A number of elements are likely to converge to ensure continued
demand on migrant labour to sustain growth.

These include changes in global supply chains resulting from
continued economic integration; variations in labour market demands
and skills shortages within the sub-region; and varied demographic
profiles, including aging populations with declining birth-rates in
some GMS countries and younger populations and higher fertility
rates in others.   

The challenge then is to manage the intra-regional population
movements in a manner that minimizes the scope for the criminal
activities of traffickers and smugglers; and, at the same time,
maximizing the enormous contribution that migrants make to the
global economy and development.

The way of the future must be built on sound migration policies
that address all aspects of the migration cycle, including security
issues, migrants' rights and obligations, health, and regular
dialogue between countries of origin and destination.

 Governments also have a responsibility to craft
constructive responses that respect human rights.  All people,
including irregular migrants, have rights.  These include the
right to human dignity, physical integrity, safety as well as
access to health care, and freedom from racism and
discrimination.

II. Progress through
Partnership 

My second point is that no single organization or government can
manage migration alone.

Working together, we must continue to evolve and expand our
capacities through partnership to manage mobility in a human and
orderly manner and to bring to bear our collective strengths and
resources in order to think ahead, to plan for change.

At the national level, IOM works with all Governments of the
GMS.

At the regional level, IOM facilitates regional migration
processes such as the Bali Process on trafficking and Colombo
Process on labour migration, and IOM collaborates with regional
bodies such as ASEAN.

And at the international level, IOM works with international
partners, including our hosts, the Asian Development Bank and the
UN agencies, to tackle an entire range of migration-related issues
from HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness to research on labour
migration and human resources mobility.

We look forward to strengthening this partnership; IOM stands
ready to work with the ADB to address other emerging challenges
such as migrant healthcare, labour migration, border management,
and planning for the consequences of environmental degradation and
climate change.   

Conclusion

Let me conclude by summarizing my observations:

One: The continued connectivity and prosperity of the Greater
Mekong Subregion is linked intrinsically to the contribution of
migrants and mobile persons - who require your protection, care,
and support.   

Two: we must work together in partnership.  I know for
example, that despite being the only international organization
whose sole mandate is exclusively migration – IOM cannot and
should not and will not try to manage migration
alone.  

IOM looks forward to continued and expanded cooperation with the
GMS Member States, the ADB, the United Nations, as well as national
and civil-society partners, to promote further growth and
development in the Subregion.

In closing, thank you over again for the honour of being invited
to take part in this important conference.