ASEAN tourism organizations discuss sub regional cooperation

Antara News, Tue, January 10 2012

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Manado, N Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - The ASEAN National Tourism Organizations (ASEAN-NTOs) discussed sub-regional ASEAN cooperation on the second day of their meeting here on Monday.

"The discussion of the cooperation agenda is closely related to the programs that are being or will be implemented this year at sub-regional level,"ASEAN NTOs chairman Wardiyatmo said.

The sub-regional cooperation covered three areas. One of them concerned the Greater Mekong Sub Region (GMS) which involved Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar, he said.

The meeting agreed to appoint Myanmar GMS chief.

The second area of cooperation concerned development of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) in which Thailand had been appointed chief of the tourism field.

The third area of cooperation dealt with development of the Brunei-Indonesia- Malaysia- Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) with Malaysia as chief of the tourism field.

Wardiyanto said in the discussion on sub regional ASEAN cooperation Indonesia had proposed an IMT-GT Tourism Working Group meeting to be held in Palembang, South Sumatra, in mid March 2012 prior to the IMT-GT Summit to be held in April 2012.

In addition, he said at the discussion Indonesia also reported the preliminary results of ASEAN Tourism Forum 2012 in which the number of participants of travel exchange (travex) to be held on January 13-15 had exceeded the target of 1,400 participants.

"A total of 1,413 people have confirmed a plan to take part in the event. The number of travex participants is likely to increase," he said.

Editor: B Kunto Wibisono

Indonesia, Malaysia push sub-regional cooperation

Mustaqim Adamrah, THE JAKARTA POST, JAKARTA | Wed, 03/18/2009 10:33 AM

Indonesia and Malaysia are pushing private sector and regional administrations to initiate sub-regional development cooperation.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Tuesday the two countries had pledged to work together within the sub-regional framework of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) and the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA).

“I said in a forum (attended by IMT-GT and BIMP-EAGA members) that Sumatra was in good shape, and Sulawesi was, too, and continuing to grow. Johor and Riau also grew,” he told the press at the State Palace after a ceremony welcoming Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Badawi was on a two-day trip attending the sixth annual consultation on sub-regional cooperation, which ended Tuesday.

“I hope that the private sector will grow and regions can dig up their own opportunities, with government’s support,” Yudhoyono said.

Yudhoyono said there were good opportunities for cross-border sub-regional economic development and cooperation including in energy, as well as in key economic sectors including agriculture, agribusiness, mining and forestry.

Late last month, Yudhoyono met with Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in a sub-regional meeting under the fourth IMT-GT Summit.

The three heads of states pledged to connect the three countries in an effort to boost trade, investment and tourism between them.

“[The physical part of] the project will be roads, ports and airports, and will involve Indonesia’s Sumatra provinces and also a number of Thai and Malaysian areas,” he said on the sidelines of the 14th ASEAN Summit in Cha-am, Thailand.

In particular the proposed sub-regional infrastructure projects were aimed at increasing cooperation in energy to secure supply in the region, as well as food and services.

The three countries also planned to develop five “connectivity borders” linking Shonglak (Thailand) to Penang (Malaysia) to Medan (Indonesia); various routes across the Malacca Strait; Aceh-Dumai-Palembang in Indonesia; Malacca Strait-Dumai; and Ranong (Thailand) to Phuket (Thailand) to Aceh, said presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal in February.

These projects will be financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), he said, without elaborating on the financing scheme or how much the project was worth.

According to the ADB, the IMT-GT currently consists of 14 provinces in Southern Thailand; eight states in Peninsular Malaysia; and 10 provinces of Indonesia’s Sumatera island.

The BIMP-EAGA consists of Brunei Darussalam; Central Kalimantan, East and West Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Maluku, Central Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi and Papua in Indonesia; Sabah and Sarawak states and the Federal Territory of Labuan in Malaysia, Island of Mindanao and Palawan Province in the Philippines.

ADB support reflects that the region has over half a billion people, has huge potential for development, with large amounts of land, abundant labor, rich natural resources and a sizeable internal market.

The IMT-GT, a sub-regional cooperation program launched in 1993, is aimed at accelerating the sub -region’s economic transformation through measures like promoting tourism and lowering transportation and transaction costs.

The BIMP-EAGA initiative was launched in 1994, aimed at hastening the development of the economy of Brunei and the subregions of the three other partner countries through regional cooperation.

Total bilateral trade between the sub-regional partners stood at US$11.5 billion in 2007, with $6.74 billion in non-oil and gas, while total bilateral trade reached $14.62 billion in the January-November period in 2008, including $9.27 billion on non-oil and gas, according to Trade Ministry.

Indonesia and Malaysia team up to boost economy

The Jakarta Post ,   Jakarta  |  Tue, 03/17/2009 6:03 PM  

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, right, and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi ride on a golf cart after their meeting at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday. AP/Dita Alangkara

The Indonesian and Malaysian governments on Tuesday agreed to mutually bolster private sectors of both countries, in efforts to develop economic ties.  

A joint trade committee between the two countries had been founded to enhance trade relations, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said. 

"The joint trade committee is in operation, and I think it will be even more effective in creating opportunities," Yudhoyono said after an annual consultation meeting with Malaysian prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday, tempointeraktif.com reports. 

Yudhoyono said the private sector and regional administrations would be at the forefront of the initiative, adding that regional administrations would also receive support from the central government. 

The total trade volume between Indonesia and Malaysia increased from US$11.5 billion in 2007 to $14.6 billion last year, he said. 

Following the establishment of three regional cooperative arrangements at the ASEAN Summit in Thailand [the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT GT), Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-the Philippines East Asia Growth Area (BIMPI EAGS) and the Chiang Mai Initiative], Indonesia and Malaysia had decided to provide more opportunities for the private sector and regional administrations to contribute to the forums, Yudhoyono said. 

Meanwhile, Badawi said the forums were an excellent means to develop the regional economy. (amr)

News focus: RI wants to push ASEAN dialogs with civil society

By Andi Abdussalam 

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia has expressed strong desire to push ASEAN member countries to have dialogs with the civil society within the region and to establish a human rights body in an effort to improve the image of the regional grouping. 

"Indonesia highly expects that ASEAN would be ready to enter this field, to have a dialog with, listen to and share views with the civil society, something which concerns human rights, the environment and equitable development," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said after attending the 14th ASEAN summit in Hua Hin, Thailand on Sunday. 

Indonesia also has the commitment to actively encourage the formation of an ASEAN human rights body although many parties have doubted ASEAN commitment to create a credible human rights body. 

"Indonesia has been very serious since the beginning to encourage the formation of this ASEAN human rights body. Indonesia has done everything to set an example that we are pursuing not only welfare but also respect for the rule of law, the promotion of human rights, and freedom including freedom of the press," The president said. 

Cambodia and Myanmar during the ASEAN summit objected to the electoral procedures of Civil Society representatives who were to have dialogs with ASEAN leaders. 

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda could understand the objection of Cambodian and Myanmarese governments on electoral procedures of Civil Society representatives. 

"It is true that Cambodia tendered their objection to the procedure on the appointment of representatives of Civil Society of a certain country. It`s quite logic," he said. 

The minister said Cambodian government complained about it because the country concerned was not involved in appointing representatives of civil society group who will have dialogue with heads of states/governments of ASEAN. 

According to Yudhoyono, ASEAN should be ready based on its charter to have a dialog with, listen to and share views with the civil society in an effort to abolish its elitism image. 

"We have to listen to them and that is actually the spirit of the ASEAN charter where ASEAN should show that it is no longer elitist but cares for not only matters of government but also civil matters in all ASEAN nations," he said. 

He said that dialogs and communications with the civil society were part of the process for ASEAN in implementing the ASEAN charter.

"I don`t want to comment too further about the technical, procedural and mechanism of the elections of the civil society representatives. 

Thailand, in its capacity as host and as the ASEAN secretary general, has of course made preparations about it," Yudhoyono added. 

The objection of Cambodia and Myanmar to the selection mechanism of the civil society representatives in the 14th ASEAN summit should be taken as a lesson for the next ASEAN summit. 

Indonesia really hopes that the process in the future would proceed smoothly. 

Besides pushing ASEAN to have dialogs with civil society groups, Indonesia also hopes that the regional grouping -- which consisted of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam? would soon form a human rights body. 

Indonesia would be very active to get the ASEAN human rights body formed not merely to promote the ASEAN image but also to create balance and harmony between law enforcement, freedom and peace. 

"But of course we must keep in mind that the basic freedom of every human being must be respected and highly upheld and must serve as part of the development of ASEAN community in the future," the president said. 

The president said ASEAN was serious about creating a credible human rights body although the condition of its member countries was different from one another. 

"Of course, the condition of Indonesia is different from that of Myanmar and other ASEAN members. Therefore, transition, adaptation and adjustment are needed. And the change which is often successful is a gradual but steady one. 

On the economic crisis, Indonesia was of the view that there is no panacea that could be used to resolve instantly the impact of the current global financial crisis. 

"With regard to regional cooperation to minimize the impact of the economic crisis, there is indeed no panacea or solution that could instantly resolve the problem. We all are aware of this. All advanced countries are affected. Their markets become gloomy. Our exports are therefore disrupted and a number of problems are now facing all nations, including ASEAN," the president said. 

All countries, including Indonesia, have done the best they could. Indonesia has done its best to contribute efforts to minimizing the impact of the financial crisis, both at regional level in ASEAN and at multilateral level in the G-20 forum. 

"All countries wanted to do their best so that the global economic crisis would not worsen, instead the recession would eventually stop so that the world economy would revive," President Yudhoyono said. 

However, all of the efforts are not without limitations so that regional and multilateral cooperation are being made, the president said. 

In order to help cope with the financial crisis, Indonesia has proposed three levels of cooperation schemes in the G-20 forum in the United States last year. 

"The three levels of cooperation schemes are cooperation in the multilateral level, cooperation in the regional level and cooperation in the national level," he said. 

At the regional level, Indonesia worked together with ASEAN to establish the Chiang Mai Initiative. ASEAN also agreed to increase intra-economic cooperation in the trade and investment fields and agreed not to adopt protectionism. 

Indonesia in its capacity as chairman of the Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT GT) and the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippine East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP EAGA), has specifically proposed that sub-regional cooperation should provide stimuli packages for infrastructure development

Growth Triangle tourism cooperation

Bangkokpost.com, 28/02/2009 at 07:54 PM 

Phetchaburi - Leaders of Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia on Saturday agreed to step up closer tourism cooperation under the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle in a campaign to be launched this year. 

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva also urged his two counterparts, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, to further cooperate in energy to strengthen regional security in the longer term. 

The three leaders held talks on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Cha-am district of Phetchaburi. 

PM's Office Minister Virachai Virameteekul said after the fourth IMT-GT meeting, chaired by the Indonesian president, that the new tourism campaign for the sub-region would be officially launched in Sumatra Island in coming months as a joint effort between the three countries. 

The private sector would be encouraged to take leading role to promote tourism opportunity in the sub-region including medical tourism, he said. 

Mr Abhisit has expressed his opinion that tourism would be the key for IMT-GT members to get through the current global economic crisis. 

Besides, the premier called on Indonesia to develop cooperation on liquefied natural gas. With Malaysia, Thailand proposed joint development of the energy land bridge which is a part of Thailand's long-delayed Southern Seaboard project. 

The southern seaboard has been suggested to be develop in line with Malaysia's northern and eastern regional development plan.

ASEAN members agree to improve transport to boost tourism

MCOT , 28 February 2009

PHETCHABURI, Feb 28 (TNA) - Government leaders of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, all members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), agreed Saturday to boost their tourism industries despite the global economic recession, a Thai government spokesman said. 

Agreement was achieved during the 4th Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) summit by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who chaired the meeting, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. 

The IMT-GT session was held to follow up progress of  the 2007-2011 roadmap, designed to strengthen food and energy security, reduce global warming and balance food production in the region for the long-term, which would also help the three countries to survive the prevailing economic crisis, he said. 

The agreement reached by the three leaders included improving marine and air transport to stimulate tourism in the region. 

The IMT-GT is the newest growth triangle in Asia. It includes the geographic areas of North Sumatra and Aceh in Indonesia; the northern states of Kedah, Perak, Penang and Perlis in peninsular Malaysia; and the southern provinces of Satun, Songkhla, Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani in Thailand. Collectively, these areas cover 200,000 sq. km. and have a population of 21 million. 

ASEAN  comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are now holding a three-day summit in Cha-Am, near the Thai resort of Hua Hin. The meeting ends Sunday. (TNA)