Potential projects in ASEAN identified<\/p>\n
MANILA (AFP): A study financed by the Asian Development Bank
\n(ADB) has proposed 121 possible projects to be undertaken within
\nthe recently formed East Asean Growth Area (EAGA), officials said
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
The project proposals were contained in the study put together
\nby the Hong Kong-based GHK Ltd. consultancy firm using a 1.8-
\nmillion-dollar ADB grant. No cost estimates for the projects were
\ngiven.<\/p>\n
EAGA, which comprises Brunei, the Philippines' southern island
\nof Mindanao, and eastern provinces in Indonesia and Malaysia, was
\nofficially launched last year in the southern Philippine city of
\nDavao to promote lagging trade and investment in those provinces.<\/p>\n
Officials from these four countries, the ADB and GHK held a
\ntwo-day meeting which ended Friday for a \"mid-term\" review of the
\nstudy.<\/p>\n
It is expected to be completed by April 1996 before it is
\nsubmitted to governments for approval.<\/p>\n
ADB economist Ernesto Pernia said the projects would be in the
\nfields of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, energy and power,
\ntrade and investment and tourism, among others.<\/p>\n
One of the proposals is a project to connect the power grids
\nof the Indonesian province of Kalimantan, Malaysia's Sarawak and
\nBrunei with the help of both the private sector and the
\ngovernment, Pernia told a news conference.<\/p>\n
Other suggestions included joint fisheries development in the
\ncountries' common waters -- considered as among the richest
\nfishing grounds in the region -- as well as the elimination of
\ntravel taxes to allow free movement, he said.<\/p>\n
Intra-EAGA flights between Mindanao and Manado in Indonesia
\nbegan earlier this month.<\/p>\n
ADB officials said that the projects would take two years at
\nthe least and over five years at the most to be implemented.<\/p>\n
Pernia said that some of the projects are already on stream
\nbut did not identify them.<\/p>\n
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations as a whole groups
\nBrunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand
\nand Vietnam.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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