labels: Economy
More Thai provinces brought under joint development scheme with Malaysia, Indonesianews
28 November 2007

Mumbai: Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia have decided to expand cooperation amongst them under a joint development scheme, at the third tri-nation meeting held on the sidelines of ASEAN summit in Singapore.

Thai prime minister Surayud Chulanont, Malaysian prime minister Abdullah Badawi, and Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono endorsed an expansion of their cooperation under a joint development scheme at the third Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) meeting.

The three leaders endorsed a proposal to include six additional Thai provinces in the IMT-GT scheme, so the project will cover all 14 southern provinces of Thailand; Malaysia''''s eight state of Negri Sembilan and Indonesia''''s tenth province of Lampung.

Thai prime minister urged the three countries to focus on transport development to facilitate trade and make the three countries the hub of Asian investment.

"We need to further improve the land, sea and air connectivity in the IMT-GT logistics network. We must also continue to reduce rules and regulations which are barriers to the flows of goods, services and people in order to make the IMT-GT an attractive investment hub for this region," Surayud stressed.

The IMT-GT was established in 1993 with the aim of jointly developing cooperation in various sectors comprising trade and investment, tourism, human-resourced development, agriculture, fisheries and environment, infrastructure and halal goods and services.

At the second IMT-GT summit in Cebu, the Philippines, in January this year, the three nations adopted the first IMT-GT roadmap for 2007-2011.

The Thai prime minister called for accelerated implementation of the IMT-GT roadmap during the next four years, in particular the cooperation in energy area.

"In light of the rising energy prices, he said, IMT-GT is an area with plenty of energy-resources such as oil and natural gas, while bio-fuel can be produced from oil palm, cassava, coconut, jetrofha and sugar cane. Thus our cooperation in the energy area can help increase energy security and the immunity of the sub-region as a whole."

In addition, Gen Surayud also said Malaysia and Thailand in December would open a friendship bridge connecting Malaysia''''s Kelantan state and Narathiwat''''s Waeng district to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the two countries'''' relations.

Chulanont urged the three nations to focus on transport development to facilitate trade and make the three countries the hub of Asian investment.


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More Thai provinces brought under joint development scheme with Malaysia, Indonesia