Sapangar Bay Container Port, which has taken over container operations from Kota Kinabalu Port in Sabah, is positioned as a premier transshipment hub of BIMP-EAGA. Photo credit: iStock/yusnizam.
Over the last 30 years, BIMP-EAGA has shown its ability to endure and adapt. It has sailed through the ebb and flow of economic changes and policy shifts.
The path to development has not been easy. Four ASEAN member states—Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines—created BIMP-EAGA in 1994 to spur development in remote and less developed areas that are strategically close to each other. BIMP-EAGA made good progress in its first 2 years. With strong support from government leaders and the private sector, national strategies and policies were aligned with efforts to ease the cross-border movement of people and goods, and new air and maritime routes were opened. Trade and investments started flowing into the subregion. However, the 1997 Asian financial crisis slowed down cooperation initiatives as did the El Niño and La Niña weather phenomena that followed in 1998—the worst on record.
In recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change impacts, geopolitical tensions, and changing trade dynamics across the world disrupted BIMP-EAGA’s growth momentum. Despite obstacles, the subregion continues to forge ahead.
BIMP-EAGA is in the final year of implementation of its 8-year strategy, which seeks to achieve greater resilience, inclusiveness, and sustainability. BIMP-EAGA Vision (BEV) 2025 now has a rolling pipeline of 217 priority infrastructure projects, valued at $66.99 billion, compared with only 57 projects in 2017. Nearly a third of the projects have been completed, while the rest are in various stages of implementation.
BIMP-EAGA is currently preparing a new strategy for the next decade, BEV 2035. To reach its full potential, the subregion must deepen cooperation, expand economic corridors for development, and increase trade and investments to leverage new opportunities and strengthen its ability to weather global turbulence.
At the 16th BIMP-EAGA Summit in Kuala Lumpur on 27 May, the heads of state of the four member-countries adopted the BEV 2035 Guiding Framework, which seeks to accelerate the development of the subregion as “a unified growth area” that is “socially inclusive, open, aligned, and resilient, ensuring shared economic prosperity and sustainability.”
Advocates of cooperation
BIMP-EAGA pioneers and veterans from the public and private sectors give a clear-eyed view of the subregion’s growth prospects amid the challenges.
“BIMP-EAGA's strategic location, natural resources, and established connectivity offer diverse opportunities for growth in digital transformation, tourism, green energy, and the blue economy,” says Thomas Koh, country director of BIMP-EAGA Business Council (BEBC) Brunei Darussalam. “By focusing on these areas, the subregion can foster economic integration, attract investment, and enhance its global presence while promoting sustainability and environmental protection.”
“BIMP-EAGA has a lot of potential. It’s rich in terms of resources, such as energy and marine resources,” says Susanna Chew, who headed the BIMP-EAGA Facilitation Center from 2003 to November 2023.
The subregion’s renewable energy resources include natural gas, hydropower, solar, bio-mass, wind, and geothermal energy. There is high potential to attract investments in renewable energy value chains.
“Marine conservation efforts in Palawan and Tawau can generate blue carbon credits through initiatives like mangrove restoration,” adds Koh. “The region's position within the Coral Triangle makes it a critical player in sustainable marine industries.”
Sayid Irwan, current chair of BEBC and country director of BEBC Indonesia, also sees opportunities in renewable energy, sustainable tourism, digital connectivity and innovation, and environment-friendly practices.
Stronger cooperation, however, is needed to drive growth in these emerging industries and sectors linked to sustainable development.
Obstacles to growth
BIMP-EAGA is a high-profile initiative, says Shelley Sondakh, executive secretary of BIMP-EAGA North Sulawesi, but it must increase its impact.
BIMP-EAGA has grown into a $400-billion economy, contributing more than 18% to the combined gross domestic product (GDP) of the four countries. The subregion has surpassed foreign direct investments and tourism targets over the last 8 years, but its goal of increasing subregional trade to at least 10% of trade remains elusive. Despite improvements in connectivity, many obstacles remain, such as high costs of transport and logistics services, inadequate infrastructure, institutional challenges, skills gap, and environmental vulnerabilities.
“I believe that we are very competitive,” says Chew, with different areas within the subregion aspiring to be a hub for halal trade, logistics operation, or financial services. “But how can we leverage each other’s strength and not compete with each other? If we want to strengthen BIMP-EAGA, we need to work together.”
Assistant Secretary Romeo Montenegro of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) talks about a new approach for BIMP-EAGA, “where we look at complementation of products rather than competition.” For Mindanao, he says the focus is to develop products that “complement with what our neighbors have in BIMP-EAGA and that are directed toward a bigger market.”
With the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and other free trade agreements, Montenegro says Mindanao’s market is expanding beyond BIMP-EAGA and even ASEAN.
RCEP is ASEAN’s biggest free trade agreement to date. It includes five regional partners: Australia, the People’s Republic of China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and New Zealand.
Among the longstanding issues that BIMP-EAGA continues to address is policy harmonization, says Montenegro. For one, there is a need to simplify trade rules.
“The most critical improvement would be to harmonize customs procedures across member countries,” says Koh, “to reduce delays and redundant checks. This harmonization could involve adopting common customs documentation and standardized transit procedures.”
The subregion’s Customs, Immigration, Quarantine, and Security (CIQS) Working Group was upgraded into a full-fledged Trade Facilitation Cluster in 2023. “The end goal of this particular cooperation is to make it easier for businesses to trade across borders by simplifying and aligning regulations,” says Montenegro.
Building the momentum
BIMP-EAGA needs a champion with strong commitment and influence to move the subregion’s agenda forward, says Susan Chang, country director for BEBC Malaysia. The Chief Ministers, Governors, and Local Government Forum (CMGLF) “should be empowered and be looped into the various activities and meetings” of BIMP-EAGA, she adds. And the national secretariats should be decentralized to their respective areas in the subregion.
In 1994, President Fidel V, Ramos of the Philippines was the champion for BIMP-EAGA, says Chew. “He really believed in BIMP-EAGA. He believed that he could help the development, especially in southern Philippines. Now, of course, if you go to southern Philippines, it is not as remote. If he were still alive, he would be very happy to see the area has developed. I wish we have somebody like him that can actually push the agenda. After the pandemic, I guess people are still building the momentum on the cooperation.”
For MinDA, the new and upcoming generation of business leaders are Mindanao’s new BIMP-EAGA champions, says Montenegro. “The formula for BIMP-EAGA has always been the strong partnership between the private sector and government.”
MinDA is working to elevate its collaboration with the private sector to a broader scale as well as continue to leverage the support of the national and local governments.
Montenegro cites that the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry has created a special committee on BIMP-EAGA last year. Participation in BIMP-EAGA has also helped MinDA “to seek national prioritization of major programs and projects in Mindanao,” he adds.
Responding to changing needs
Ronald Sison, a Mindanao-based consultant, points out the value of BIMP-EAGA’s continued efforts to refocus its development programs and projects, improve institutional and operation mechanisms, encourage stakeholder participation, and engage the support of partner organizations.
The periodic review and finetuning of strategies, plans, and systems as well as stakeholder and partner consultations have kept the cooperation program relevant and responsive to changing needs over the past 3 decades.
The forthcoming BEV 2035 is expected to guide cooperation initiatives in the next 10 years. These include advancing the development of newly reconfigured, expanded, and interlinked economic corridors through an integrated approach. By strengthening linkages through economic corridors, the socioeconomic benefits of development are expected to reach marginalized communities. The ultimate objective is to have one seamless BIMP-EAGA growth area.
Carl Moosom, former chairman of BEBC Sabah and now political secretary to Malaysia’s Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Minister, believes that BIMP-EAGA’s initiatives has helped businesses capitalize on opportunities and governments by providing policy guidance on planning for economic and environmental sustainability. He sees the subregional program’s continued relevance as a platform for cooperation and policy dialogue.
“BIMP-EAGA is here to stay,” Moosom says. “I am honored to be part of the small successes we achieved together as a BIMP-EAGA community."