The Borneo Economic Community (BEC) was announced at the sidelines of the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit 2023 yesterday.
It is a business-driven collaboration set to transform the Borneo sub-region across Brunei, Indonesia’s Kalimantan as well as Malaysia’s Labuan, Sabah and Sarawak.
BEC, poised to become a catalyst for the island to become the green economy hub of Southeast Asia, was announced during the second Borneo Business Roundtable in Jakarta.
The event was co-hosted by Chairman of ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) 2023 and Chairman of Kamar Dagang dan Industri Indonesia (KADIN) M Arsjad Rasjid PM and Chair of the ASEAN BAC Brunei Haslina binti Haji Mohd Taib.
The statement of cooperation for the formation of the BEC were signed by leaders and representatives from ASEAN-BAC Indonesia, KADIN, ASEAN-BAC Brunei, National Chamber of Commerce and Industry Brunei Darussalam (NCCIBD), Labuan Chamber of Commerce (LCC), Sarawak Business Federation, Associated Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Sarawak (ACCCIS), Dewan Perniagaan Bumiputera Sabah and Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MICCI) Sabah.
The three objectives of BEC are to promote and strengthen sustainable development, innovations and investments; to address the challenges and opportunities of businesses operating in Borneo; and to develop joint cooperation to drive a sub-regional digital ecosystem for mobility, cooperation and integration within and beyond Borneo.
The BEC will be supported by its inaugural implementation partners: Dynamik Technologies, TradeWaltz, Indonesia Climate Exchange and TrustGrid in areas such as digital trade, tokenised economy and business participation in the carbon market.
