Tibet Autonomous Region plans to launch the Himalaya Economic Rim project this year, People.cn reported.

The Himalaya Economic Rim refers to ports in Tibet including Zham, Kyirong and Purang economically supported by Shigatse and Lhasa. The Economic Rim will be directed towards markets in the three neighboring countries of Nepal, India and Bhutan. According to the Third Plenary Session of the 10th Tibet People’s Congress, the Himalaya Economic Rim project will work with these countries to develop border trade, boost international tourism, and cooperateing on strengthening industries such as Tibetan medicine and animal husbandry.

Tibet is expected to expand its cross-border cooperation in 2015 in several ways, ranging from speeding up the construction of port facilities， resuming trade in Yadong, to connecting to the "One Belt and One Road" and the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM-EC).

The "One Belt and One Road" is a concept refers to the "Silk Road Economic Belt" and "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" which were put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013. The concept has greatly helped promote China’s cooperation with countries from Central Asia and Southeast Asia in areas such as trade and monetary cooperation, traffic connectivity and people-to-people exchanges.

The BCIM-EC was put forward by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during his visit to India in May 2013.The corridor aims to promote trade cooperation, poverty alleviation, and people-to-people contacts in Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar.