Wednesday, November 05, 2008 BIMP-Eaga gears up for meeting of senior officials in Indonesia
MAKASSAR, Indonesia -- All roads lead here to Makassar, South Sulawesi as key officials, ministers and delegates meet for a series of high-level meetings.
They will discuss the status and what immediate actions need to be undertaken to strengthen the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-the Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-Eaga) sub-regional economic cooperation.
From November 4 to 6, the BIMP-Eaga 17th Senior Officials Meeting (SOM)/13th Ministers Meeting (MM) will gather key officials and the private sector of the Eaga-member countries to discuss and assess the revitalization road map for BIMP-Eaga and recommend strategic directions for the coming year as instructed by the BIMP-Eaga Heads of State.
The SOM/MM is held annually and hosted by the member countries on a rotation basis.
The Philippines successfully hosted the said meetings last year, facilitated by the Mindanao Economic Development Council (Medco) and the Philippine Coordinating Office (PCO) for BIMP-Eaga.
Concurrently, the 3rd chief ministers, governors, and heads of Local Government Forum will be held on November 5 in the same venue here.
Following the 2nd LGU forum held in Koronadal City last year, the meeting aims to strengthen bilateral cooperation among the LGUs within the sub-region as well as to promote trade and investment opportunities among the sub-region's focus areas.
"With the Senior Officials and Ministers Meeting as well as the 3rd LGU Forum, we hope to assess the headways of the BIMP-Eaga revitalization efforts with strong emphasis on strengthening ties between and among the EAGA member countries," said Undersecretary Virgilio Leyretana, chairperson of Medco.
Results of the first BIMP-Eaga Community Based Ecotourism Conference will also be presented during the SOM/MM.
The conference, which was concluded last November 1 in Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia, was aimed at coming up with a BIMP-Eaga ecotourism roadmap with a common direction towards sustainable management and development of the sub-region's ecotourism sites.
Also expected on these meetings are representatives from the BIMP-Eaga Business Council, BIMP-Facilitation Center, BIM National Secretariat and development partners. (Press release)
