TRADP (1991 - 2005)

1991 - Tumen River Area Development Programme (TRADP), the predecessor of GTI, was launched by UNDP as a regional cooperation programme.

1995 - Member countries signed agreements on the establishment of the TRADP Consultative Commission at the Vice-Minister level to officially launch the intergovernmental mechanism.

2005 - Member countries agreed to extend the initial cooperation agreements for another ten years, and committed to demonstrate national ownership; TRADP was renamed as the GTI with an expanded geographic coverage to the Greater Tumen Region, and the five priority sectors (Transport, Tourism, Energy, Investment, and Environment) were identified for future cooperation.

GTI (2006 - present)

2007 - 2010 - Intergovernmental structures in the five sectors (Transport Board, Tourism Board, Trade Facilitation Committee, Energy Board, and Environmental Board) were created to coordinate sector-specific cooperation activities and projects.

2008 - The Inaugural Tourism Board Meeting was held.

2009 - The Inaugural Energy Board Meeting was held.

2010 - The Inaugural Transport Board Meeting was held.

2011 - The Inaugural Trade Facilitation Committee Meeting and the Inaugural Environmental Board Meeting were held. The NEA Local Cooperation Committee was established among NEA local governments to strengthen local economic cooperation and central-local coordination.

2012 - The Association of GTI EXIM Banks was created as a development financing mechanism to support the implementation of the regional project.

2013 - The Inaugural meeting of the GTI NEA Local Cooperation Committee was held.

2014 - The Inaugural meeting of the NEA EXIM Banks Association was held.

2016 - The Inaugural Meeting of the GTI Agriculture Committee and the Inauguration Meeting of the GTI Research Institutions Network were held.

2019 - The Northeast Asia Business Association was launched.

2020 - The GTI NEA Marine Cooperation Sub-Committee under the GTI NEA Local Cooperation Committee was developed.

During the 20th Consultative Commission Meeting of GTI in December 2020, the member states approved the GTI Strategic Action Plan for 2021-2024 as a sequel document of SAP 2017-2020, which was approved on 29 June 2017 in Moscow, Russian Federation. The preceding document is SAP 2012-2015, which is an updated version of the SAP 2006-2015 that was approved on 2 September 2005 in Changchun, People’s Republic of China, and all of which focuses on long-term goals, strategies, and common visions of how to cooperate across the member states of the GTI.

Independent Organisation (2010-present)

2010 - The process of transforming the GTI towards becoming an independent organisation started.

2012 - The member states reviewed the progress on transitioning the GTI into a legally independent entity, and agreed to take actions to expedite the transition process.

2013 - GTI Members welcome the Roadmap with indicative timelines to guide the transition process.

2014 - The Members endorsed the Concept Paper on Legal Transition, and directed National Coordinators (NCs) and the GTI Secretariat to implement the concrete steps stipulated in the transition roadmap.

2015 - After four special sessions for the Legal Transition, the discussion on the Agreement was basically completed.

Currently, GTI is in the process of legal transition to an independent international organization. The discussion on legal texts is ongoing.