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6th Summit of the BIMP-EAGA Leaders

Remarks by
Haruhiko Kuroda
President
Asian Development Bank

25 October 2009
Cha-am, Petchburi Province, Thailand

Your Majesty, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to be in your midst yet again at this 6th Summit of the BIMP-EAGA Leaders. Let me begin by thanking the Governments of Malaysia and Thailand for the warm reception and hospitality extended to the ADB delegation. On a more sombre note, our hearts go out to the people of Indonesia and the Philippines who have suffered tragic loss of life and property on account of recent natural disasters.

BIMP-EAGA stakeholders deserve congratulations on the steady progress made in implementing their development roadmap, especially in trade and transport. Our experience with other subregional programs tells us that improving transport connectivity and trade facilitation is critical to expanding intraregional trade and tourism, two key drivers of economic growth in the subregion. This is especially important as Asia seeks to recover from the global economic crisis and reduce overdependence on exports to industrial countries.

So, while steady progress is good, it is time for BIMP-EAGA to shift to a higher gear. An accelerated agenda of cooperation in infrastructure will be needed if BIMP-EAGA is to effectively address the constraints to creating a more economically integrated subregion.

Infrastructure development remains a critical need in BIMP-EAGA, not only because of its challenging geography, but also because of the important role that physical connectivity plays in building a strong regional market. Seamless infrastructure that includes physical assets, enabling policies and regulations, as well as institutions, is essential for inclusive growth. And investments in subregional energy generation and cross-border interconnection will promote optimal and sustainable use. This would have far reaching implications on improving employment and business opportunities, particularly for the poor and small to medium enterprises, respectively.

Following your directives and guided by your Ministers' instructions, your Senior Officials agreed to fast-track the identification of priority infrastructure projects. For this purpose, ADB, as your Regional Development Advisor, held detailed consultations in your countries in the last two months. The identification of these projects has taken into account national and local development plans, and additional subregional benefits arising from BIMP-EAGA cooperation. With the excellent cooperation that we received, we have now reached understanding on an initial two-year rolling program of priority infrastructure investments for BIMP-EAGA for the period 2010-2011. I greatly appreciate Your Excellencies' endorsement of the project pipeline.

We at ADB are committed to assist in the due diligence process, and in the mobilization of the required financial and technical resources to prepare and implement these projects. We will, of course, draw on ADB resources based on the General Capital Increase of ADB, which you recently supported. And we are also working closely with your governments to establish an ASEAN Infrastructure Fund to mobilize the financing resources within the region. We are ready to explore a variety of funding modalities, including sub-sovereign and non-sovereign lending, public-private partnership schemes, and private sector operations.

In addition to infrastructure development, we remain committed in supporting other key areas in BIMP-EAGA cooperation. These include trade facilitation, conventional and renewable energy development, community-based ecotourism, and the regional environment program. BIMP-EAGA is at the center of several important programs associated with climate change, including the Heart of Borneo and the Coral Triangle Initiative. We will continue to provide technical assistance to support these initiatives, and to help coordinate your efforts.

Excellencies:

Let me conclude by saying that this Summit breaks new ground by endorsing a program of infrastructure projects. We must maintain this momentum to connect our subregion effectively, and breathe new life into its regional cooperation objectives. ADB is very excited by this development and will do all to support this remarkable endeavour.

Thank you, Excellencies, for your attention.