Jakarta – The Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) is seriously looking at the growing trade and tourism exchanges in the Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines-East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) as a vital component of its ongoing efforts to integrate the economies of the region`s 10 member-states.
Dr. Termsak Chalermpalanupap, special assistant to the ASEAN Secretary-General, said the ASEAN Secretariat is currently exploring possible linkages with the BIMP-EAGA stakeholders to help accelerate the sub-region`s cooperation and integration activities.
"Theoretically, [BIMP-EAGA] should be our building block. Hopefully we can help them move faster," he said at a briefing with visiting Southeast Asian reporters here.
During the last two years, Termsak said the ASEAN Secretariat has recognized BIMP-EAGA`s initiatives as part of ASEAN`s activities.
He said ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan has been attending BIMP-EAGA meetings and other official activities since he assumed office last January.
In June 2006, the ASEAN Secretariat initially opened consultations with the BIMP-EAGA, which identified the strengthening of linkages and coordination mechanism with the ASEAN as a component of its four-year development roadmap that will end in 2010.
A briefer released by the ASEAN Secretariat said the consultations covered discussions on ASEAN`s institutional set-up and operational and management practices; the feasibility of pilot-testing ASEAN`s agreements in the BIMP-EAGA; the coordination mechanism in fostering closer partnership between public and private sector; ASEAN`s practices and procedures in the implementation mechanism and monitoring and evaluation system; high-profiling of BIMP-EAGA`s development agenda into the ASEAN framework and the promotion of BIMP-EAGA`s activities and documents through ASEANWeb.
Termsak said the ASEAN Secretariat is currently planning to hold more consultations and formal collaborations with the BIMP-EAGA, specifically on economic integration efforts.
"The ASEAN and BIMP-EAGA have a lot of positive experiences to share with each other in the area of trade, tourism and investments," he said.
Termsak said among the positive developments in the BIMP-EAGA that ASEAN may look into are its strong tie-up with the sub-region`s private sector, specifically the business community, and the implementation of a policy waiving travel tax payments for travels within the sub-region.
Quang Anh Le, assistant director for ASEAN`s Bureau of Economic Integration and Finance, said they are currently studying BIMP-EAGA`s integration of its customs, immigration, quarantine and security (CIQS) system, which they are planning to be integrated in the future with the ASEAN Single Window project.
The BIMP-EAGA is currently trying to unify its CIQS policies to help speed up the movement of products and open up more sea and air linkages within the sub-region.
The ASEAN Single Window, which is one of the focal areas of ASEAN`s economic integration efforts, focuses on the modernization of customs procedures and systems of ASEAN`s 10 member-states and their integration into a single ASEAN portal beginning late next year to facilitate trading in the region.
"We`re considering adopting the CIQS system of BIMP-EAGA as a component of the ASEAN Single Window," he said in a separate briefing.
The BIMP-EAGA, which was launched in 1994, comprises the entire sultanate of Brunei Darrussalam; the provinces of Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku, and West Papua in Indonesia; the states of Sabah and Sarawak and the federal territory of Labuan in Malaysia; and Mindanao and Palawan in the Philippines.
The area, which is home to at least 60 million people, covers 1.57 million square kilometers and accounts for a gross domestic product of about US$65 billion. Allen V. Estabillo
Source: http://www.mindanews.com (September 04, 2008)