ASEAN to endorse growth area program

ASEAN to endorse growth area program

The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali

Leaders of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the
Philippines are ready to "recognize" the existence of the East
Asian Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), designed to help boost trade
between the neighboring countries, a senior Indonesian government
official said on Sunday.

Firman Tamboen, the deputy at the Office of the Coordinating
Minister for the Economy, said that the move would ensure
political commitment from the leaders to resolving lingering
problems hampering economic cooperation.

"We hope that with this recognition, the leaders can address
the problems," he told a press conference at the end of a senior
officials meeting.

He said that a joint statement would be endorsed on Monday by
Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Indonesian President Megawati
Soekarnoputri, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, and
Philippines President Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo.

Leaders of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
are gathering here for an annual summit.

Economic cooperation through BIMP-EAGA was started 10 years
ago, but various programs under the arrangement were only signed
by ministers of the four countries, thus lacking political
strength as part of the effort to boost investment and trade
linkages in the sub-region One example of the difficult problems
faced was the transportation issue, Firman said.

"The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is currently helping us by
conducting a survey for the building of a railway from Sabah in
Malaysia to Kalimantan in Indonesia," Firman said.

He also said that the governments of the four countries would
have to issue regulations to help improve coordination so as to
attract fresh investment.