On Friday, September 29, 2023, Mr. Julapun Amornvivat, Deputy Minister of Finance, as Thailand’s Minister for the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT), attended the 29th IMT-GT Ministerial Meeting in Batam, Riau Islands, Republic of Indonesia. Mr. Airlangga Hartarto, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, chaired the meeting, with Mr. Mohd Rafizi bin Ramli, Minister of Economy of the Federation of Malaysia, in attendance. Representatives from the Asian Development Bank, ASEAN Secretariat, and public and private sector agencies from all three countries were also present, with Mr. Danucha Pichayanan, Secretary-General of the National Economic and Social Development Council, serving as Thailand’s senior representative.
On this occasion, the IMT-GT Ministers from the three countries acknowledged progress reports on IMT-GT operations in each cooperation sector, as follows:
1. Tourism Sector: Projects and activities are being implemented under the IMT-GT Tourism Year Campaign 2023-2025 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of IMT-GT’s establishment. These include promoting sustainable tourism in the subregion, training in service skills for health tourism businesses, and supporting Muslim-friendly tourism. Thailand is the first country to establish a dedicated immigration channel for foreign tourists traveling to IMT-GT (IMT-GT Lane) at Hat Yai International Airport.
2. Transport Connectivity Sector: Operations are underway under the Physical Connectivity Projects (PCPs), with a total value of over 57 billion USD (approximately 2.10 trillion baht) in 2023. Significant PCP projects include the Sumatra Highway Construction Project and the Dumai-Malacca Ro-Ro Port Development Project. Thailand’s projects showing concrete progress are the Sadao-Bukit Kayu Hitam Customs Checkpoint Connection Road Construction Project, the 2nd Kolok River Bridge Construction Project (Sungai Kolok-Rantau Panjang), the Hat Yai-Sadao Motorway Construction Project, the Hat Yai-Padang Besar Double-Track Railway Construction Project, and the Chumphon-Ranong Land Bridge Project.
3. Agriculture and Agro-Industry Sector: Actions have been taken following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Rubber City Project and Rubber Industry Cooperation in the IMT-GT Subregion in 2022. This has led to increased investments in rubber industrial estates in Songkhla Province, Sei Mangkei in Indonesia, and Kedah in Malaysia. Additionally, there is the Super Fruits Project in Chuping Valley, Perlis State, Malaysia, and the Young Farmer Incubation Project in the IMT-GT subregion.
4. Trade and Investment Sector: IMT-GT Ministers agreed to expedite the signing of the Framework of Cooperation between the Governments of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand on Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine (FoC in CIQ) to facilitate cross-border movement of goods and people in the IMT-GT subregion.
5. Halal Products and Services Sector: The Halal Blockchain project has been implemented, using Artificial Intelligence in conjunction with Halal Blockchain to streamline the process of obtaining Halal certification.
6. Human Resource Development Sector: Regional Projects are being implemented to develop workforce competitiveness and promote the integration of harmonized labor skill standards. Thailand’s key project is the development of labor skill standards and training of trainers in the welding field.
7. Environment Sector: Work is being carried out to strengthen environmental efforts in collaboration with local agencies to support the implementation of the Sustainable Urban Development Framework (SUDF). Cooperation with UNINET has been established for studying, researching, and analyzing data to formulate policies for addressing environmental issues in the IMT-GT subregion.
8. Digital Transformation Sector: Projects are being implemented under the Implementation Blueprint (IB) 2022-2026. Thailand is currently expediting the 5G Development implementation plan, with two ongoing activities: (1) A project to stimulate the 5G ecosystem for commercial application of 5G technology, and (2) A project to develop measures to promote investment and utilization of 5G technology.
9. Progress on the Green Cities Action Plan: 42 municipalities from the IMT-GT subregion have joined as green cities, with plans to promote investments totaling approximately 17 billion USD between 2019 and 2036. Additionally, there is a joint project with UN-ESCAP to promote sustainable urban development in IMT-GT. In Thailand, Thung Song Municipality in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province has begun developing “Thung Song Livable City” and driving the Thung Song Eco-Industrial Town initiative.
10. IMT-GT Business Council Cooperation: IMT-GT Ministers congratulated the IMT-GT Business Council meeting outcomes, which included the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding among the business councils of all three countries. This focuses on strengthening the IMT-GT Business Council Secretariat, enabling the IMT-GT Business Council to effectively push forward plans/projects in collaboration with various cooperation sector working groups, the Chief Ministers and Governors Forum (CMGF), and UNINET, yielding concrete results.
On this occasion, the Deputy Minister of Finance also provided three recommendations to translate government policies into concrete actions and accelerate Thailand’s economic benefits in the IMT-GT framework, comprising:
(1) Promoting international payments via QR Code to facilitate payment for goods and services by tourists. In this regard, the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Thailand, and Indonesia have jointly pushed for international payments via QR Code to enable tourists to pay for goods and services without currency exchange. They also support Malaysia in establishing similar cooperation with Thailand and Indonesia.
(2) Enhancing liquidity and supporting access to funding for small-scale entrepreneurs in the rubber and palm oil processing industries to strengthen SME operators in producing high-value rubber and palm oil products and reinforce the value chain connectivity of rubber and palm oil products.
(3) Expediting the development of relevant border checkpoints at Sadao and Sungai Kolok in cooperation with Malaysia to complete operations in the near future. Moreover, for major projects to be developed in the South, such as the Hat Yai-Sadao Motorway Construction Project and the Chumphon-Ranong Land Bridge Construction Project, the government is considering the most appropriate funding models. This may include issuing Sustainability Linked Bonds and utilizing Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mechanisms to jointly develop various infrastructure projects in the South, yielding tangible results.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the IMT-GT Ministers from all three countries jointly endorsed the Joint Statement of the 29th IMT-GT Ministerial Meeting. They emphasized collaborative efforts to revitalize IMT-GT, welcomed the progress and success of the 8 cooperation sectors, and set directions for future operations. They also supported the roles of CMGF and local authorities in cooperation with the Green City Mayors Council and Green Council, and UNINET’s role in providing academic cooperation with various sector working groups. They also commended the cooperation of development partners such as ADB and the ASEAN Secretariat, which have played a crucial role in IMT-GT development throughout the past period.
The Government of Malaysia will host the 30th IMT-GT Ministerial Meeting and other related meetings in Johor State in September 2024.
News: International Cooperation Strategy Division
