On February 27, 2024, Ms. Sasithorn Plattadech, Policy and Planning Advisor, Acting Deputy Secretary-General of the National Economic and Social Development Council, in her capacity as Thailand’s Senior Official for the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) Development Program, participated in the 18th Strategic Planning Meeting of the IMT-GT Program in Putrajaya, Malaysia, together with senior officials from Malaysia and Indonesia, including: Dato’ Dr. Zunika binti Muhammad Deputy Director General for Policy, Ministry of Economy, Chairperson of the Meeting Dr. Edy Prio Pambudi Deputy Minister for Economic Coordination, along with representatives from the Indonesian Embassy in Malaysia, representatives from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), executives from the Centre of IMT-GT Subregional Cooperation (CIMT) as the IMT-GT Program Secretariat, and participants from public and private sector agencies from the 3 IMT-GT member countries
During this meeting, senior officials from all 3 countries were briefed on the implementation results and progress of the IMT-GT Program under the Implementation Blueprint 2022-2026 (IB 2022-2026), including progress reports on the implementation of each cooperation sector under the IMT-GT Program as follows:
1. Agriculture and Agro-Industry Sector has made significant progress with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Palm Oil, which is expected to be signed during the 16th IMT-GT Leaders’ Summit in May 2025 in Malaysia, and various initiatives to promote regional cooperation, enhance food security, and promote sustainable agriculture through technology and innovation, such as regional training for young farmers under the IMT-GT framework
2. Tourism Sector has made progress in implementing projects and activities under the IMT-GT Visit Year Campaign 2023-2025, such as promoting IMT-GT as a single destination, cruise tourism or cross-border driving tours, as well as discussing increased cooperation with local stakeholders and other working groups to support inclusiveness and sustainability
3. Halal Products and Services Sector has undertaken various important initiatives to strengthen the ecosystem, promote halal knowledge, and accelerate halal certification processes through various activities such as knowledge-sharing training, halal blockchain, and halal routes, as well as discussing future cooperation to further reduce trade barriers
4. Transport Connectivity Sector has been driven through various concrete projects, particularly the Second Golok River Bridge Project (Sungai Golok-Rantau Panjang), which is a Flagship Project, and has agreed to organize airline and airport operator meetings as parallel activities to working group meetings, while also supporting the environmentally friendly freight transport project of the IMT-GT University Network (UNINET)
5. Digital Transformation Sector has focused efforts on developing a business-supportive environment through digital infrastructure and digital skills development to drive economic growth, including proposals to collaborate with existing large E-Commerce platforms to facilitate regional trade
6. Trade and Investment Sector has agreed to sign a Framework of Cooperation (FoC) for cross-border movement of goods and services during the 16th IMT-GT Leaders’ Summit. Additionally, the working group driving the rubber city project and rubber industry cooperation is in the process of preparing proposals for funding to conduct business needs analysis studies in the IMT-GT countries
7. Human Resource Development Sector emphasizes technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and identifying potential personnel in various fields, while also focusing on strengthening cooperation with multi-stakeholder partners for project development, such as JCB business sector and UNINET, particularly cooperation with Walailak University in organizing working group meetings
8. Environment Sector has undertaken concrete initiatives such as blue economy initiatives and marine oil spill management, and waste management, including initiatives for increased business sector cooperation. The working group also supports CIMT’s operations to strengthen cooperation with ADB and UNESCAP, as well as seeking new development partners
9. The meeting was also briefed on the progress of IMT-GT Business Council and UNINET cooperation which aims to work with working groups in various cooperation sectors to initiate and promote joint programs/projects to achieve concrete results for advancing the IMT-GT Program
Furthermore, ADB representatives, as development partners of the IMT-GT Program, reported on cooperation with the IMT-GT Program, including green city initiatives, blue economy, as well as cooperation with CIMT to organize workshops on building understanding of Economic Corridors (ECs) and Special Economic Zones (SEZs), and capacity-building training projects for IMT-GT Program officials
Thailand will host the 19th Strategic Planning Meeting in 2026, as well as host the Ministerial Meeting and other related meetings of the IMT-GT Program in September 2025
Strategy and International Cooperation Coordination Division
Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council
Photo: NCER Malaysia