RI, Malaysia, Thailand to jointly promote tourism

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have agreed to jointly promote tourism in their shared border area, an Indonesian official said Saturday.

Henry Hutabarat, the head of the Indonesian Tourist Promotion Board for North Sumatra, said the three countries would initially promote tourism in the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT), which is composed of the western states of Malaysia, the southern section of Thailand and the Indonesian provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra and Riau.

He said the three governments have agreed to provide US$210,000 to assist tourist promotion in the growth area.

The three countries will give $70,000 each to the Malaysian, Indonesian and Thailand Tourist Association, a regional tourist promotion board based in Penang, Malaysia, in a bid to increase tourist rates in the area.

The four Indonesian provinces will collectively provide a total of $50,000 for the first stage, said Henry. The remaining $20,000 for Indonesia's share would be provided at a later date.

He said the agreement to collect the funds was signed recently by senior tourist officials from the three countries.

IMT-GT, established in Langkawi, Malaysia in July 1993, aims to integrate the economies in the growth area. It is one of three subregional cooperation schemes initiated by member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore Growth Triangle links Riau province, including Batam, with Singapore and the Johor state in Malaysia.

The Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area connects Central and South Kalimantan, and Central and South Sulawesi with Serawak of Malaysia, the southern provinces of the Philippines and Brunei.

The development of areas of economic cooperation between ASEAN countries is expected to strengthen economic links within Southeast Asia.

Henry said provincial administrators and businesspeople of the four provinces included in the IMT-GT had decided in a recent meeting in Medan that they would share the burden to provide Indonesia's portion of the funds. (gis)