SE Asian fund endorsed

SE Asian fund endorsed

MANILA (AFP): Senior officials from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have endorsed the proposal for a special fund for an East ASEAN Growth Area (EAGA), Philippine Finance Secretary Roberto De Ocampo said yesterday.

EAGA is a program, launched last year, to link the economies of neighboring Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Most of the areas covered by the EAGA have largely been bypassed by the economic boom in Southeast Asia and it is hoped that creating the growth area will improve conditions.

De Ocampo said in a statement that the proposed fund, which would provide financing to small- and medium-scale enterprises as well as infrastructure projects related to the EAGA, was widely accepted during an EAGA conference on capital formation in Kuching, Malaysia this month.

However they also admitted that there was a need to identify sources for the fund and to study the policy implications involved in setting it up.

De Ocampo said the Finance Department will organize a meeting in Manila next month to identify the issues involving the creation of the fund.

ASEAN includes the four countries covered by EAGA as well as Singapore and Thailand.