We also propose to integrate each country's national policies on sustainable urban development into the SUDF.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Industry Ministry stressed on cooperation for promoting economic recovery at the 8th Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) meeting, which was held in Phuket, Thailand, on September 15 and 16, 2022.

“Currently the world is in the midst of a ‘perfect storm,’ which includes the 5Cs, namely COVID-19, climate change, conflict, commodity shortage, and cost-of-living shock," Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said in a statement received here on Friday.

The IMT-GT is a joint forum which aims to accelerate economic cooperation and synergy among the three countries.

The minister said that the three members of the IMT-GT had faced huge challenges during the pandemic, however, each of them had managed to survive and recover stronger.

However, global economic growth has declined significantly. Developed countries are currently facing an energy crisis and high inflation. In addition, extreme weather conditions as well as the Russia-Ukraine conflict have affected global energy and food prices.

To overcome the impact of global conditions, the three IMT-GT members need to establish a healthy and safe cooperation ecosystem as well as a regional interconnection, Kartasasmita observed.

“IMT-GT, as a forum for regional cooperation, must also be adaptive and vigilant to the development of geopolitical situations, especially the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which may trigger crises in various fields," he added.

The two-day meeting discussed two main agendas, namely the development of post-pandemic economic recovery programs as well as the promotion of sub-regional sustainable efforts, including the follow-up to the IMT-GT Sustainable Urban Development Framework (SUDF).

One of the focuses of the economic recovery programs is the tourism sector. Indonesia is committed to strengthening the resilience of the tourism sector to help recover the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand sub-region.

"The revival of the tourism sector also has a direct impact on the growth of MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises) or IKMs (small and medium industries), thus a recovery strategy should be compiled together," the minister stated.

He suggested that the implementation of the IMT-GT Visit Year, which is part of a collective action to revive the IMT-GT tourism industry, should be held in 2024–2025 to also celebrate the 30th anniversary of the IMT-GT Cooperation.

Furthermore, he also underlined the importance of expediting the implementation of the SUDF to realize the framework’s target.

"We also propose to integrate each country's national policies on sustainable urban development into the SUDF," he added.

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Translator: Sella Gareta, Uyu Liman
Editor: Sri Haryati
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