Senior Officials and Cluster heads from Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP EAGA) member countries will visit the Philippines for the post Senior Officials Meeting which will be held in Puerto Princesa Palawan on May 25 to 26, 2015.
This will serve as a follow up activity on 11th BIMP-EAGA Summit held at Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia last April 28, 2015 to review the progress and implementation bottlenecks on priority programs and projects identified during the 2015 Summit.
Trade and Industry Undersecretary Prudencio M. Reyes, Jr, also the Philippine senior Official will be attending the Post Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) as a part of his role in promoting the Philippines’ ties with other ASEAN nations in pursuit of achieving BIMP EAGA deliverables.
“As the Philippine Senior Official, I have high hopes that this convention will encourage interaction and exchange of ideas among the participants to cover all areas of concerns and obtain substantive results at the end of the meeting.” said Undersecretary Prudencio Reyes, Jr.
Senior Officials and Cluster Heads will tackle 2nd Generation Priority Infrastructure Projects (PIPs) which includes road projects, seaports and airports expansion for a stronger connectivity within BIMP-EAGA. Reviving air links between Philippines and its EAGA counterparts is currently one of the priorities of Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) to maximize the travel tax exemption approved by the Philippine government for travelers from Mindanao and Palawan heading to any of the BIMP-EAGA destinations. Currently, the Philippines has been enhancing its transport connectivity systems in BIMP-EAGA through strengthening the following transport facilities: Davao-GenSan-Bitung Shipping Service, Brooke’s Point Palawan-Kudat RORO service, and Davao-Manado air Linkage.
“We are hopeful that agreements will be reached on the long standing issue of BIMP-Facilitation Center so that we can fast-track the implementation of these priority infrastructure projects.” Usec Prudencio Reyes, Jr. concluded.
Posted By: Edrillan Pasion
