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ASEAN intensifies sub-regional cooperation
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced Saturday that Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand had agreed to develop air, land and sea infrastructure to better connect the three countries in an effort to boost trade, investment and tourism among them
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President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced Saturday that Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand had agreed to develop air, land and sea infrastructure to better connect the three countries in an effort to boost trade, investment and tourism among them.
Speaking to reporters in Cha-am, Thailand, during the 14th ASEAN Summit, President Yudhoyono said the project was part of the commitment toward an ASEAN economic community by 2015 for a more integrated market system to tackle global economic challenges.
Yudhoyono met Saturday with Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in a sub-regional meeting under the 4th Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle Summit.
"*The physical part of* the project will be roads, ports and airports, and will involve the Indonesian provinces on Sumatra and also a number of Thai and Malaysian areas," he said.
Presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said the three countries had agreed to develop five "connectivity borders" linking Shonglak (Thailand) to Penang (Malaysia) to Medan (Indonesia); routes in the Malacca Strait; Aceh-Dumai-Palembang in Indonesia; Malacca Strait-Dumai; and Ranong (Thailand) to Phuket (Thailand) to Aceh.
The project will be financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Dino did not elaborate on the financing scheme or how much the project was worth, but said the governments had yet to set a timeframe for the completion of the projects.
"The government is preparing the blueprint and the development will be executed by local governments," he said.
Yudhoyono said the infrastructure project would be aimed at increasing cooperation in the energy, food and service sectors to secure the supply in the region, home to more than half a billion people. The Bangkok-based English daily The Nation reported that Abhisit had urged his two Indonesian and Malaysian counterparts to offer more energy cooperation to help strengthen the region's energy security.
Abhisit also wanted Indonesia to strengthen long-term cooperation on Thailand's liquefied natural gas (LNG) needs, said The Nation.
A source said Thailand was particularly interested in the Natuna gas bloc in Riau, Sumatra.
ASEAN leaders on Sunday signed the renewal of the 1986 ASEAN Petroleum Security Agreement (APSA), a petroleum-sharing scheme for crude oil and petroleum products in times of shortage.
"The government will prepare the blueprint for the development, but the benefits from the new infrastructure can only be manifested if local leaders and businesspeople are actively engaged in clinching future cooperation with their counterparts elsewhere," President Yudhoyono said.
"Local administrations and businesspeople shouldn't necessarily depend on the government in seeking opportunities for future cooperation. Local governments and businesspeople should be more proactive."
Yudhoyono also met Saturday with his counterparts from Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines in a sub-regional meeting under the 5th Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines-East ASEAN Growth Area Summit to discuss economic cooperation.
"The project will involve *provinces in* Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Maluku," Yudhoyono said.
-JP/Lilian Budianto
