RI, Malaysia, Thailand agree to boost cooperation

RI, Malaysia, Thailand agree to boost cooperation

By Prapti Widinugraheni

LHOKSEUMAWE, Aceh (JP): Indonesian, Malaysian and Thai
ministers ended their one-day meeting here yesterday, with a
fresh commitment to strengthening business partnerships in their
bordering areas.

Indonesian Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications
Joop Ave said that all parties agreed to set up a task force in a
bid to stimulate the business partnership within the Indonesia-
Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT).

Joop, who chaired yesterday's meeting, said the task force
would identify initiatives and ideas to spur private sector
participation in IMT-GT cooperation.

Joop was speaking on behalf of Coordinating Minister for
Production and Distribution Hartarto, who was unable to attend
the meeting. Hartarto is in charge of supervising the IMT-GT from
the Indonesian side.

The establishment of the task force was in response to private
sectors' concern that many projects under the IMT-GT had not been
fully implemented.

The concern was brought up during a Joint Business Council and
senior officials' meetings, which were held before yesterday's
ministerial meeting.

IMT-GT, connecting North and West Sumatra in Indonesia,
southern provinces in Thailand and western states in Malaysia
into an integrated economic center, is one of three subregional
cooperation schemes initiated by members of the Association of
South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The other two are: the Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore Growth
Triangle, linking Riau province -- including Batam, Singapore and
Johor state in Malaysia; and the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand
Growth Triangle connecting Central and South Kalimantan; Central,
South and Southeast Sulawesi; Sarawak of Malaysia; and the
southern provinces of the Philippines and Brunei.

Kosim Gandataruma, the head of the Indonesian Senior Officials
Meeting delegation said yesterday that after four years of the
IMT-GT's establishment, the Joint Business Council, which
consists of businesspeople from three countries, had managed to
sign 47 memorandums of understanding valued at a total of M$11.15
billion (around US$4.51 billion).

"Of these, 14 are at the implementation stage, nine on hold,
19 progressing and five aborted," he said.

Kosim said that of the projects, six were in tourism, with a
total value of M$206.25 million, eight in infrastructure (M$9.96
billion), seven in agriculture and fisheries (M$220 million),
four in human resources development (M$1 million) and one in
services ($15.6 million).

The Senior Officials Meeting, which ended Wednesday night, was
attended by some 200 government officials and businesspeople from
Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. About one third of the
delegates were from the private sector.

Kosim said the involvement of the private sector was expected
to reduce bureaucracy and encourage transparency in the decision-
making process.

He said the need to establish a task force to supervise the
working groups was mainly because some working groups had made
significant progress while others "seemed unsure" of what they
were supposed to do.

"In some cases, the private sector is an active and vibrant
part of the working group meetings and deliberations. In other
cases, neither the public nor private members of the working
group are comfortable with existing conditions," he said.

"After a frank exchange of views ... we have decided to
establish a task force to examine a mechanism whereby the
effectiveness of the working group can be made more efficient
and, in particular, to come up with proposals for ways to
integrate the private sector more deeply into the IMT-GT
constructive mechanism." he said.

Kosim said during the next Senior Officials Meeting and
Ministerial Meeting, which is scheduled to be held in Perak,
Malaysia, in September or October this year, the task force would
report the result of its assessment and provide recommendations.

The IMT-GT, established in Langkawi, Malaysia in July 1993,
covers the provinces of Aceh, North and West Sumatra, the
Malaysian state of Kedah, Penang, Perak and Perlis and the Thai
provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, Satun, Songkhla and Yala.

The ministerial meeting also endorsed yesterday the proposal
to include the province of Riau in the subregional group,
bringing the number of Indonesian provinces in the growth
triangle to four.

The ministers also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of
understanding between Sumbar Utara Misiniaga Sdn. Bhd, of
Malaysia and Medan-based PT Bangun Mabarjaya for the
establishment of a 180-hectare industrial zone in North Sumatra's
Deli Serdang regency.

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