Wednesday, November 08, 2006 BIMP-EAGA governors to forge strategic action plan By Bong Garcia
PROVINCIAL governors within the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia and the Philippines East Asean Growth Area (Bimp-Eaga) will converge for the first time this week in Malaysia for a one-day forum aimed to maximize the strategic role of the local governments in sustaining the sub-regional initiatives and to forge strategic collaborations.
Slated to be held on Thursday, the 1st Bimp-Eaga Local Government Forum will be convened in Kota Kinabalu back-to-back with the three-day BIMP-EAGA 14th Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) and 11th Ministerial Meeting (MM) scheduled on Wednesday up to Friday.
The Mindanao Economic and Development Council (Medco) announced on Tuesday that expected to be discussed during the SOM and MM are updates on various BIMP-EAGA initiatives, ahead of the 3rd Eaga Leaders Summit in Cebu scheduled to be held next month.
Medco said the forum aims to engage provincial and state level officials across the sub-region with discussions on increasing local government participation in EAGA activities by adopting a common strategic action plan at the provincial, state and Eaga levels to strengthen cooperation in the growth area.
It is also aimed to formalize sub-regional cooperation measures, programs and projects that have been initiated either on a bilateral or multi-lateral basis at the local levels, according to Medco.
Highlights of the forum include a presentation on the status of BIMP-EAGA development programs and projects, as well as the Bimp-Eaga Business Council's (BEBC) presentation of initiatives that focuses on its role in advancing public-private sector partnerships in the BIMP-EAGA.
Saranggani Governor Miguel Dominguez of the Philippine-EAGA delegation will also present experiences and lessons learned in the implementation of projects through different modalities of Public-Private Partnership.
The Bimp-Eaga LGU Forum will also include bilateral meetings among governors and heads of local governments, including the Sabah Chief Minister aside from discussions on developing strategies for optimizing the role of local governments and their private partners.
In convening the various local leaders of the Eaga, the LGU projects itself as the voice of the Bimp-Eaga, and aims to develop and pursue common policy support and interventions for the sub-region from their respective national governments.
"The initiative to conduct this first-ever forum among heads of local governments in the Eaga is certainly a welcome strategy in ensuring the sustainability of various programs and projects in the Eaga," noted Philippine Signing Minister for Bimp-Eaga Jesus Dureza.
"To sustain programs and projects the participation of the people is very important. The involvement of local leaders, as well as their private sector counterparts, would definitely have a strategic hand in ensuring such participation," Dureza added.
A side event to the forum is a BIMP-EAGA Exhibit, which will showcase and exhibit trade, tourism and investment highlights of the different Eaga provinces.
Dubbed as "Experience Bimp-Eaga 2006," the exhibit will be on display from November 9 to 12 at Centerpoint Mall in Kota Kinabalu.
The exhibit is slated to enable the four member-countries promote the potentials of the growth area and showcase the sub-region's products and services, including trade and investment opportunities.
It was organized by the BEBC and with support from (German Technical Cooperation) GTZ.
The Bimp-Eaga was formed in March 1994 as Asean sub-regional economic growth aimed to increase trade, investment and tourism.
It comprises the entire sultanate of Brunei Darussalam; 10 provinces in the Indonesian islands of Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku, and Irian Jaya; Sabah, Sarawak, and Labuan in Malaysia; and Mindanao and Palawan in the Philippines with a land area of 1.54 million square kilometers.
