Kuala Belait, Brunei Darussalam -- The 16th Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-the Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Senior Officials Meeting opens (18 June) with delegations coming from the four EAGA member countries, the EAGA business sector and EAGA external partners.
Held at the Plaza Sutera Biru Hotel in Kuala Belait, Brunei Darussalam, the two-day meeting will discuss the Mid-term Review of the BIMP-EAGA Roadmap to Development, among others.
The Philippine delegation led by Trade Undersecretary Merly Cruz, the Standing Chair of this year‘s SOM, include Assistant Secretary Janet Lopoz,
Executive Director of MEDCo and Head of the Philippine-EAGA NationalSecretariat, Director Nina Cainglet and Atty. Sharon Rivera of DFA, andHelen de Castro and Jonathan Miral of the MEDCo.
This year‘s SOM in Brunei aims to review the progress that the sub-region has made and to work out concrete measures and solutions to advance the sub-regional cooperation and promote greater ASEAN integration in line with the objectives set forth in the BIMP-EAGA Development Roadmap.
Discussions on the review will focus on four (4) areas, namely policy environment, maximizing the potentials of economic corridors in the sub-region, emerging global issues like food security and energy, and institutional strengthening focusing on private sector participation.
The meeting will also take a look at the role of the LGUs in the sub-regional cooperation. Meanwhile, the BIMP-EAGA Senior Officials will also be discussing the BIMP-FC which was primarily established to provide a mechanism for a more systematic coordination among BIMP-EAGA institutions and organizations operating within the growth area.
Other discussions that will be done by the Senior Officials will be with the EAGA external partners such as the Northern Territory of Australia, China, Japan, Asian Development Bank and German Technical Cooperation on various cooperation initiatives.
The meeting will also highlight updates from the BIMP-EAGA Business Council(BEBC), results of the Local Government Working Committee Meeting, EAGA-EU Business and Technical Partnership, as well as preparations for the 5thBIMP-EAGA Summit and 17th SOM/15th MM.
"The government has been consistent in pursuing efforts to make the BIMP-EAGA a vital component of mainstream ASEAN development. Stakeholders from the business and government sectors must therefore actively take part in this continuing effort to expand trade, tourism and investment in the sub-region,"
Undersecretary Virgilio Leyretana, chair of the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo), the Philippine Coordinating Office for BIMP-EAGA said. The Senior Officials Meeting is regularly convened to discuss BIMP-EAGA activities, programs and projects as well as address specific issues and concerns that impede trade and business activities within the sub-region.
Efforts to revitalize the BIMP-EAGA sub-regional initiative are strongly recognized by the Philippine government headed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as one of the key development strategies to increase trade, investment and tourism in southern Philippines.
Formalized in 1994, the BIMP-EAGA sub-regional cooperation is a mechanism primarily intended to spur development in the lagging sub-economies of member countries by increasing intra-EAGA trade, tourism and investments. EAGA is comprised of the entire country of Brunei Darussalam; 10 provinces in the Indonesian islands of Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku and Irian Jaya;Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan in Malaysia; and Mindanao and Palawan in the Philippines.
Source: http://www.pia.gov.ph (June 19, 2008)
