The Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) continues to be an attractive hub for foreign and domestic investments, said Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah at the launch of BIMP-EAGA Trade Convention 2023 (BETCON 23) at Bridex Hall, Jerudong.
The minister said the sub-region saw foreign direct investments in 2022 rose to USD19.9 billion, a 46.7 per cent increase from 2021. Meanwhile, domestic investments grew to USD8.7 billion in 2022, an increase of 19.3 per cent compared to 2021.
“Tourism is showing full recovery, with arrivals increasing by 137.3 per cent to 114.8 million in 2022 from 48.4 million in 2021,” said the minister.
The minister said there is an increase in priority infrastructure projects, from 57 in 2017 to 129 in 2023, amounting to USD38.87 billion. These projects include road, sea and airports, infocommunications and technology infrastructure and power interconnections.
The minister also noted an improvement in the sub-region’s trade balance, from USD70.2 billion to USD84.8 billion from 2021 to 2022.
“With all these positive developments in BIMP-EAGA, I believe that BETCON23 is the right platform for our businesses to network, promote their products and services, and explore potential business opportunities that will further boost cooperation towards achieving the BIMP-EAGA Vision 2025 (BEV 2025),” said Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew.
Yesterday, the minister launched the event alongside Indonesia’s Senior Advisor to the Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs Dr Rizal Edwin, Malaysian Deputy Minister of Economy Dato Hajah Hanifah Hajar Taib; Chairperson of the Mindanao Development Authority Secretary Maria Belen S Acosta, Cese and BIMP-EAGA Business Council (BEBC) Brunei Chairman Pengiran Dr Haji Haris bin Pengiran Duraman, who is also this year’s BEBC Chair.
AGREEMENT SIGNINGS
The ceremony also saw a number of memoranda of agreement (MoA) and understanding (MoU) signed between various companies and organisations. MoAs were signed by PT Sterily Halal International with Riza Fudhlana Farming and Hong Xin Food Sdn Bhd with Hui Huang Enterprise. MoUs were signed by Sahamada Corporation Sdn Bhd with RNF Trading; Life Water Marketing Sdn Bhd, JS Jaya Sdn Bhd and Syarikat Perniagaan Muneera with each other; the Federation of Brunei Malay Entrepreneurs (PPPMB) with the Palawan Economic Development Council; El-Abqari Travel Tours Sdn Bhd with LDA Labuan Holding Travel and Tours; and BEBC with Gallop Air.
BETCON23 is organised by the BEBC and endorsed by the Ministry of Finance and Economy. The event was also supported by the Brunei Economic Development Board & Muara Port Company Sdn Bhd. The event ends on October 29, at 6pm.
26TH BIMP-EAGA MINISTERIAL MEETING
The trade convention is held in conjunction with the 26th BIMP-EAGA Ministerial Meeting and related meetings.
The meetings were attended by ministers, governors and senior officials from the BIMP-EAGA sub-region as well as representatives from the Asian Development Bank and the ASEAN Secretariat.
Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew chaired the 26th BIMP-EAGA Ministerial Meeting and Ministers’ Retreat.
The minister in his opening remarks highlighted the need to adjust BIMP-EAGA strategic plan and policies to take into consideration regional and global trends by further intensifying cooperation and reaffirming commitments towards accomplishing BEV 2025.
Meanwhile, the ministerial meeting took note on the outcome of the 31st Senior Official Meeting on the implementation of rolling pipelines of projects; reviewing the MoU on land and sea to ensure that it aligns with the latest development; and to strengthen cooperation with development partners.
The ministers also welcomed the initial findings of the study on the review and assessment of the BIMP-EAGA Economic Corridors and the joint BIMP-EAGA and Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) Blue Economy Strategy 2030; and witnessed the signing of the Letter of Intent (LOI) on One Borneo Quarantine Initiative.
The meeting also took note the recommendations from the 5th Chief Ministers, Governors, and Local Government Forum (CMGLF) to develop enabling environment for business development and for intra-and extra-EAGA trade and investments; strengthen public-private partnership and sharing of best practices in local governance; and institutionalise EAGA-wide twinning agreements to promote stronger people-to-people connectivity and other socio-economic activities.
