"BIMP-EAGA is important for Indonesia as it helps accelerate development in 14 provinces of the eastern Indonesian region," said Raldi Hendro Koestor, Senior Advisor to Indonesian Coordinating Minister for the Economy, who headed the Indonesian delegation in the 16th BIMP-EAGA ministerial meeting, in the southern Philippine city of Cayagan de Oro (Friday, Oct.21).
Raldi Koestor attended the meeting to take the place of Economy Coordinating Minister Hatta Rajasa who cancelled his attendance in the 19-22 October meeting due to cabinet reshuffle in Jakarta last week. The ministers agreed to hold their next meeting in Balikpapan, Indonesia in 2012.
Attending the meeting in Cayagan de Oro, Philippine Minister of Trade and Industry Gregory L. Domingo, Lim Jock Seng, Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Brunei Darussalam, Tan Sri Nor Mohamed bin Jacob, Minister in the Prime Minister?s Office, Malaysia.
Raldi Koestor said Indonesia takes BIMP-EAGA also important as Indonesia wants to see the region, in particular the southern Philippines, becomes an area of stability and security.
"The eastern Indonesian region, from Papua to Kalimantan, can take advantage of BIMP-EAGA, to spur their development. Therefore, we consider it important to be ever developed," said Raldi Koestor who gave his comment to ANTARA as the meeting wound up.
Zaenal Arifin, Economic Minister-Counselor at the Indonesian embassy in Manila who accompanied Raldi Koestor in the meeting, said that BIMP-EAGA has achieved more concrete gains in the recent years. The group focuses its cooperation on three pillars, connectivity, food production and eco-tourism.
"In this meeting, several Indonesian regions have prepared their respective participation in the cooperation. East Kalimantan prepares ferry link between Tarakan in the province with Tawi-Tawi," said Zaenal Abidin, adding that Kalimantan Timur also explores air link using its own airlines, KaltAir, to destinations in the Philippines and Sarawak, eastern Malaysia.
Zaenal Arifin added that North Sulawesi Province also prepares the resumption of air link connecting its capital city of Manado to Davao, the capital city of Mindanao. Indonesian airlines WingAir, a subsidiary of Lion Air, has presented its interest to serve the route.
He said a bilateral meeting between Indonesia and the Philippines is scheduled for November 2011 in General Santo, another city in Mindanao, to discuss the more technical aspects of their cooperation in that regard..
BIMP-EAGA was launched in March 1994 in Davao with the objective is to accelerate economic development in the four countries` ?focus areas? which, although geographically distant from their national capitals, are in strategic proximity to each other, in one of the world`s most resource-rich regions.
The BIMP-EAGA initiative is market-driven, and operates through a decentralized organization structure involving the four governments and the private sector covering an area of 2.0 million square kilometers with a market force of about 70 million people.
It to increase trade, tourism and investments with and outside the sub-region by facilitating free movement of people, goods, and services, making best use of common infrastructure and natural resources and taking the fullest advantage of economic complementation.(*)
E-004/B005/O001
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
