Pornchai Wisuttisak

Associate Professor

Faculty of Law, Chiang Mai University

Assistant to University President, Chiang Mai University

The article explores the maintenance of the equilibrium situation between the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RECEP) within the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) by focusing on cases study on Cambodia, Lao, Myanmar, and Thailand. In the past decades, China, with its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), assumed the leading position in supporting the RCEP to pave the way for international development and global economic balance. Also, in the recent year, to hedge the decreasing role of the US in Southeast Asia, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) was initiated to strengthen its position along with East Asian and Western economic alliances. The two sides of the world economic cooperation and competition, China led RCEP and the U.S. led IPEF impact the Greater Mekong subregion in having to balance the economic cooperation and competition between the two economic powers. This paper thus explores how GMS countries’ positions under the two international economic cooperation and competition are. The article also suggests possible international agreements and policies that can rebalance the two sides of global partnership for development in GMS.

Keywords: Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Greater Mekong subregion, Cooperation and Competition