"We adopted a joint statement to implement the blue print of 2012-2016."Phnom Penh, Cambodia (ANTARA News) - Indonesian Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan has called for closer sub-regional cooperation between Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand as part of the growth triangle scheme.
To that end, efforts should be made to institutionalize the Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT), empower the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund, and prioritize the implementation of projects in a more proportional way, he said after attending an IMT-GT meeting led by Indonesian Vice President Boediono here on Wednesday.
He noted that cooperation projects under the IMT-GT scheme, including those in the fields of infrastructure, agriculture, human resources, tourism, halal food, trade and investment, had so far been on the right track.
Asked if most infrastructure projects under the IMT-GT scheme had thus far involved Thailand and Malaysia, he said the projects should be conducted in such a way that the areas of the three countries joining the growth triangle could grow together.
To that end, he called for efforts to accelerate the development of infrastructure projects in Sumatra, such as ports.
The IMT-GT meeting held as a side-event of the 20th ASEAN Summit discussed not only progress in the implementation of projects, but also a blue print for the implementation of IMT-GT in the 2012-2016 period.
"At the meeting, we adopted a joint statement to implement the blue print of 2012-2016," he said.
IMT-GT is a sub-regional cooperation initiative formed by the governments of the three countries in 1993 to speed the economic transformation in their least-developed provinces.
The cooperation further seeks to promote the welfare and economic growth of the people living in the areas covered by the IMT-GT.
The Indonesian areas that are part of the IMT-GT cooperation are provinces in Sumatra island; Aceh, Bangka-Belitung, Bengkulu, Jambi, Lampung, South Sumatra, Riau, Riau Islands, North Sumatra and West Sumatra.
(T.H017/S012/INE/KR-BSR/H-YH)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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