The Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) hosted the 13th Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle Strategic Planning Meeting from February 5-7, 2020, at Centara Grand at CentralWorld Hotel, Pathumwan District, Bangkok. Mr. Danucha Pichayanan, Deputy Secretary-General of NESDC, served as the meeting chairperson and head of the Thai delegation (senior officials), accompanied by Mr. Wanchat Suwannakitti, Policy and Program Advisor, and officials from the Strategy and International Cooperation Coordination Division of NESDC. The key outcomes of the meeting are as follows:
The 13th IMT-GT Strategic Planning Meeting was a working session to discuss the 2020 action plan at the working group level. Key participants included Mr. Bobby Hamzar Rafinus, Senior Advisor on Regional Development, Ministry of Economic Affairs Coordination of the Republic of Indonesia; Dr. Suhana Binti Muhammad Saleh, Director of Strategic Planning and International Cooperation Division, Ministry of Economic Affairs of Malaysia; Ms. Rodora Concepcion, Senior Regional Cooperation Specialist from the Asian Development Bank; and Mr. Fidaus Dahlan, Director of the IMT-GT Subregional Cooperation Coordination Center. The meeting was attended by approximately 250 participants from both public and private sectors.
The key outcomes of the meeting were: (1) Senior officials from the three countries jointly discussed approaches to improve the Five-Year Implementation Plan 2017-2021, which is the first implementation plan under Vision 2036, to better align with current and future trends and changes; and (2) approval of the operational direction of working groups under seven cooperation areas to comply with the Five-Year Implementation Plan 2017-2021, with key projects including the integration of the New Sadao-Bukit Kayu Hitam customs checkpoint connectivity, cruise tourism in the IMT-GT area, halal tourism, new generation farmer training, Surat Red goat breed development, halal e-commerce promotion, and environmental cooperation enhancement.
Senior officials from the three countries agreed that cooperation projects under the IMT-GT program must emphasize development that is complementary and mutually supportive, leveraging each other’s strengths to overcome crises and various changes occurring globally and regionally, while considering sustainable development that will reduce inequality among people in the area. Additionally, the meeting approved approaches for cooperation with the Asian Development Bank on green city development and green transportation systems, as well as cooperation for marine resource conservation to promote sustainable development in the IMT-GT subregion. Simultaneously, the three countries jointly considered and approved approaches for cooperation with development partners and dialogue partners of the IMT-GT program, including India, Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB). Prepared by the Strategy and International Cooperation Coordination Division Additional IMT-GT program meeting documents can be downloaded from https://tinyurl.com/13thSPM
