Waves of industrialization have rapidly spread in contemporary East Asia and have promoted dynamic changes in the division of labor, as well as in the industrial structure and trade patterns of each country.

This dynamism has also been characterized by the movement of capital, technology and other managerial resources from advanced to less developed countries. How has such dynamism influenced the Mekong River region, the newest link in East Asian industrialization?

In this paper, I analyze this question by taking up the cases of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, and also utilize the analytical framework known as “Flying-geese Theory” and fragmentation theory. Thanks to the economic cooperation programs for the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS),and the official development assistance (ODA) provided by Japan and other nations, the connectivity among countries as well as among areas within each country of Mekong River region has been strengthened. In addition to such hard-infrastructure, each country has also made efforts in building soft infrastructure in terms of institutional reforms, legal frameworks and market friendly policies; and consequently developments within and among countries have made the Mekong River region an important part of Asian dynamism in the twenty-first century. Under the so-called China Plus One and Thailand Plus One formula, an increasing number of multinational corporations (MNCs) have moved parts of their operations in China and Thailand to Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

The paper concludes by pointing out that further reforms are necessary in order to promote the Mekong River region as a participant in the formation of regional and global supply chains for MNCs.