ADB grant for growth area

ADB grant for growth area

MANILA (AFP): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said yesterday it had approved a US$1.8-million grant to support the creation of a "growth quadrangle" of contiguous areas of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

The grant will fund a technical study to look for ways to promote economic cooperation in the region, which encompasses the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, Brunei and adjacent parts of Malaysia and Indonesia.

The study will focus on five areas -- human resource development, agriculture, fishing, transport and communications, trade and tourism and energy and power, the Manila-based ADB said in a statement.

It will be carried out by international and local consultants.

The growth quadrangle, a proposal by Philippine President Fidel Ramos, was formally launched last year.

All four countries are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which also includes Singapore and Thailand.