Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim led the Malaysian delegation to the 15th Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Summit and 15th Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) Summit on 11 May 2023 in conjunction with the 42nd ASEAN Summit in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia.
The Leaders were pleased with BIMP-EAGA’s significant achievements and resilience despite setbacks due to the prolonged impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The subregion’s economic performance is rebounding with growth registered at 3% in 2021 compared to 1% contraction in 2020. The combined BIMP-EAGA Gross Domestic Product in 2021 stood at US$358.6 billion accounting for 18.2% of BIMP, which is on-track to achieve the 20% target by 2025, while the total trade in goods increased by US$65.8 billion in 2022.
The BIMP-EAGA subregional connectivity is a driver of growth, in which the Priority Infrastructure Projects (PIPs) that spanning roads, bridges, and railways; seaports and airports; cross-border facilities and inland transport services double from 57 in 2017 to 126 projects in 2023 amounting to US$34.45 billion.
The Leaders’ were also pleased with the increase of subregional GDP from US$127.9 billion in 1993 to US$405.7 billion in 2021, while the subregional trade also expanded from US$97.9 billion to US$618 billion.
The Member States reaffirm their unwavering effort in post-pandemic tourism recovery and delighted to inaugurate the IMT-GT Visit Year 2023-2025 as the subregional collaboration to jointly revive tourism industry.
The Halal Industry have been earmarked as the lead focus area to spearhead IMT GT cooperation with IMT-GT envisioned as the halal hub for the global market.
The Leaders’ have call for collective actions to promote subregional halal products and services to new markets in collaboration with potential IMT-GT partners.
Member States also recognise the pivotal role of Physical Connectivity Projects (PCPs) as the backbone in realising a more socially and economically integrated subregion. Thus far, the cooperation has made significant progress in developing 36 projects across the subregion worth US$57 billion.
The Leaders applaud the commitment of 31 cities in the subregion for implementing a total of 146 green city-related projects and encourage relevant stakeholders to explore renewable energy-generating opportunities to ensure subregional energy security as well as energy transition.
Member States reaffirm commitment to enhance cooperation with ASEAN through possible areas of collaboration particularly in advancing regional economic integration and accelerate the revival of the tourism sector. This will be done by aligning projects and programmes to support ASEAN’s regional economic agenda.
In a nutshell, Malaysia calls for a more significant and active participation of private sector as well as the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) to reap the potential of business opportunities offered through these subregional cooperations.
In this regard, the Malaysian entrepreneurs should take advantage of the regulatory reforms in both subregional cooperations especially with regards of ease of doing business to harness the potential of cross-border-trade within ASEAN region as a whole. For instance, the conclusion on The One Borneo Quarantine Initiative under the BIMP-EAGA platform will strengthen cooperation in monitoring and inspection in the subregion’s quarantine system and enhance protection from pests and diseases.
The Leaders look forward to the signing of the Letter of Intent, which will take place during the 26th BIMP-EAGA Ministerial Meeting on 23-27 October 2023 in Brunei Darussalam.
Malaysia also demonstrates support and commitment towards the Government of Republic of Indonesia decision to shift their capital from Jakarta to Nusantara.
In this regard, Anwar has informed Member States on the approval of allocation amounting RM1 billion to Sabah and Sarawak for border development.
This is a bold move that will help to spur economic activities for the people in the surrounding areas in the government’s efforts to continue to play an important role in both subregional cooperations that will bring benefit to the people.
Member States commended the steadfast commitment of BIMP-EAGA tourism key players in revitalising the industry through innovative solutions. Sustainable energy resources are recognised as a top priority and critical enabler of BIMP-EAGA’s clean energy transition, besides the pivotal role of ICT in achieving a digital economy.
A statement released by Minister of Economy Rafizi Ramli today (May 11), cited that the leaders welcomed the positive progress on collaboration with Development Partners particularly with the Republic of Korea, which to date has approved 10 projects amounting to US$3.5 million.
The Leaders also look forward to the signing of the Framework of Economic Cooperation between BIMP-EAGA and Japan in 2023.
Overall, the Leaders endorsed the Accelerating Cooperation Together (ACT) Mid-Term Review of the BIMP-EAGA Vision (BEV) 2025 report, which puts forward key actions required to fast-track implementation and achievements of the BEV 2025.
The Prime Minister was accompanied by the Minister of Economy (Signing Minister for BIMP-EAGA & IMT-GT), Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry. Senior officials from the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry were also present in both meetings.
The 15th BIMP-EAGA Summit was chaired by Anwar while the Minister of Economy represented the nation as a Chair and Signing Minister who presented the BIMP-EAGA performance report entitled ‘Accelerating Cooperation Together (ACT) BIMP-EAGA Vision 2025.
Meanwhile, the 15th IMT-GT Summit was chaired by His Excellency Joko Widodo, President Republic of Indonesia. This meeting is coincided with the IMT-GT 30th Anniversary of which the IMT-GT Visit Year 2023-2025 Campaign, was simultaneously launched during the Summit.
