Background and Principles
On April 4, 2012, in Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia, the 6th Leaders’ Meeting of the IMT-GT Framework was held. The meeting accelerated the implementation of the IMT-GT Implementation Blueprint for the 5-year period (2012-2016), Phase 2 (Rolling Pipeline 2012-2013). The meeting emphasized the importance of the Chief Ministers and Governors’ Forum (CMGF) framework in initiating project proposals in collaboration with the IMT-GT Business Council and development partners, while continuing to focus on driving connectivity projects in the IMT-GT subregion to ASEAN. And
to prepare for consideration of draft proposals, informal Chief Ministers and Governors’ Forum retreats (CMGF Retreat) should be organized as follows:
1st Meeting: Malaysia, March 8, 2012, in Malacca State
2nd Meeting: Thailand, July 3, 2012, at Prince of Songkla University, Songkhla Province
3rd Meeting: Indonesia, December 11-12, 2012, in Central Bangka City, Bangka Belitung Province
4th Meeting: Malaysia, November 21, 2013, in Georgetown, Penang State
Key issues from the meeting results related to provinces and provincial clusters, where the meeting emphasized the importance of the CMGF framework as the main mechanism for driving projects in the areas
Subsequently, the Cabinet resolved on October 22, 2012, regarding the results of the 18th IMT-GT Ministerial Meeting held on September 27, 2012, in Negeri Sembilan State, Malaysia, acknowledging and approving
the proposal by the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council for the Ministry of Interior to discuss in detail with the Budget Bureau regarding budget allocation to support the operations of governors of 14 southern provinces in participating in activities under the Chief Ministers and Governors’ Forum (CMGF) framework and other related meetings within the IMT-GT framework, including the establishment of a secretariat office for the Chief Ministers and Governors’ Forum, to align with the guidelines assigned from the 1st Informal Ministerial Meeting
Strategic Issues
The implementation of the Chief Ministers and Governors’ Forum (CMGF) framework has the following strategic issues:
Coordination of cooperation between
chief ministers and governors in the southern and southern border regions and provinces/states
of member countries in IMT-GT
Integration of strategic implementation
for the development of southern and southern border provinces to connect subregional development
under the IMT-GT framework
Promotion and support for southern and southern border provinces to propose project plans or beneficial cooperation
for the areas under the IMT-GT framework
Latest Progress
Promoting projects into IMT-GT working groups and frameworks. In 2022, two additional projects were promoted into the Tourism Working Group framework
(Project to Promote Economic Connectivity through Cultural Tourism along the Srivijaya Heritage Route for MICE market groups from IMT-GT countries, and Project to Promote Sports Tourism Activities Satun-Langkawi Fishing Thru Andaman 2023), and 21 projects were promoted to the IMT-GT CMGF level meeting at the 19th Chief Ministers and Governors’ Forum meeting (held on September 15, 2022, in Phuket Province, Thailand)
Simultaneously, green city activities were promoted and implemented by organizing joint seminars between government, private sector, and various municipal agencies in the southern region
to drive green city development according to the sustainable city development framework in provinces and provincial clusters in the south under the IMT-GT framework, and supporting preparation
for the 6th Green Council Meeting (held on September 9, 2023, in Perak State, Malaysia)
Promoting and supporting the creation of cooperation for the Rubber City project: discussions between the Southern Industrial Estate, Songkhla Provincial Office, and academic experts in rubber from Prince of Songkla University, and Dato’ Wira Dr Ku Abdul Rahman bin Ku Ismail, Senior Member of the Kedah State Executive Council, Malaysia, and the development team from Kedah State
(held on August 3-4, 2023, at the Southern Industrial Estate, Chalung, Songkhla Province, Thailand)
Additionally, lessons learned from 30 years and operational directions leading to potential and concrete implementation under the IMT-GT cooperation framework in the 14 southern provinces were extracted through a workshop titled “Extracting Lessons from 30 Years of Operations and Operational Directions Leading to Potential and Concrete Implementation under the 8-Sector Operational Strategy of the IMT-GT Cooperation Framework,” conducted jointly with government, private sector, and municipalities in the 14 southern provinces, together with representatives from ministries responsible for all 8 working groups, the Ministry of Interior, the National Economic and Social Development Council, and the IMT-GT Business Council (held on August 17-18, 2023, in Hat Yai District, Songkhla Province)
