GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 8 May) – The Philippine government pushed anew the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) as the country’s export gateway to the Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines – East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP–EAGA) subeconomic cooperation.
Secretary Leo Tereso Magno, Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) chairperson, noted that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been pushing for the Bangsamoro region to play a pivotal role in the BIMP-EAGA.
“BARMM’s active participation in BIMP–EAGA reflects the administration’s commitment to ensure that regional integration translates into tangible opportunities for communities in Mindanao and across ASEAN,” Magno said in a statement on Thursday.
He made the pronouncement in time for the Special BIMP–EAGA Leaders’ Summit, which is part of the 48th ASEAN Summit held in Cebu from May 6 to 8, hosted by the Philippines.
He said the Marcos administration is fully behind BARMM’s push to become a key export gateway within BIMP-EAGA, which was launched in Davao City in 1994.
During their meeting ahead of the Special BIMP–EAGA Leaders’ Summit, Magno and BARMM Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua discussed efforts to position the Bangsamoro region as a central trade hub in BIMP-EAGA through its Bangsamoro Economic Corridor Initiative.
MinDA is the country’s coordinating agency for the BIMP-EAGA, a cooperation initiative established to spur development in remote and less developed areas of the four member countries.
The subregion covers the entire sultanate of Brunei Darussalam; the provinces of Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku, and West Papua of Indonesia; the states of Sabah and Sarawak and the Federal Territory of Labuan in Malaysia; and the island of Mindanao and the province of Palawan in the Philippines.
Magno noted that a “developed BARMM is a developed Mindanao.”
Macacua said such pronouncement “reflects the reality that the progress of the Bangsamoro region contributes to the broader growth, stability, and connectivity of Mindanao and the BIMP-EAGA region.”
“We continue to show that BARMM is ready to work with partners across the region in advancing peace, trade, investments, halal industries, connectivity, and inclusive economic growth,” he said in a Facebook post.
The Bangsamoro region was established in 2019, replacing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, as a result of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the final peace agreement of the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front signed in 2014 after 17 years of negotiations.
The Bangsamoro region is under a transition period slated to end in October as the first set of elected Parliament members assume office following September’s election.
Macacua said the BARMM is ready to move “from transition to transformation,” following a meeting with Asian Development Bank (ADB) country director Andrew Jeffries in Cebu.
He added they discussed potential partnerships on infrastructure connectivity, institutional modernization, investment readiness, and regional economic integration under the BIMP-EAGA framework.
“We envision the Bangsamoro as a strategic gateway for trade, logistics, halal industries, agriculture, and fisheries in Mindanao and the ASEAN corridor,” Macacua said.
During the Special BIMP–EAGA Summit deliberations, Macacua said he beamed with pride as the Bangsamoro region’s potentials were cited multiple times. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
0 Comments