After the 4th Summit of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) on 28 February 2009, Mr. Virachai Virametekul, Minister Attached to the Prime Minister’s Office, briefed the press on issues discussed during the meeting, held on the sidelines of the 14th ASEAN Summit. Chaired by Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of the Republic of Indonesia, the meeting was attended by Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Dato’ Sri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Minister Virachai said that the three IMT-GT leaders reiterated their commitment to supporting long term sub-regional cooperation among them, particularly in the areas of food security, energy security and sustainable development, including addressing global warming.
They also discussed cooperation in other areas. On trade and investment, they affirmed their support for greater connectedness through transportation linkages whether by land, sea or air, in order to facilitate the flows of people, goods and services. They also affirmed that they would work together on trade facilitation. On tourism, the three leaders noted that 2009 was a celebration year for the promotion of tourism with particular focus on medical tourism and cooperation.
The Thai Prime Minister informed the meeting of Thailand’s vision for IMT-GT cooperation and put forward the idea of linking Thailand’s special development zones in its southern provinces with the special development zones in Malaysia’s North, noting that such linkage would make the region more affluent. He also proposed that the IMT-GT should work more closely with ASEAN, suggesting that the private sector could play a leading role in such efforts.
Finally, Minister Virachai said that the IMT-GT leaders discussed the possibility of convening a Governors’ Forum as a platform for the governors of the concerned provinces of each country to meet and discuss plans and work programmes to move forward cooperation under the IMT-GT framework as well as to ensure that the IMT-GT cooperation reach out to people in the area as much as possible.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th