From left, Romeo Serra, chairman of the BIMP-EAGA Business Council (BEBC); Secy. Jesus Dureza, Philippine Signing Minister for BIMP-EAGA; Clare Martin, Chief Minister of Northern Territory and other officials from Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. (Photo courtesy of MEDCo)
DAVAO CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 03 Jul) The Northern Territory (North Central Australia) and the Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines (BIMP) have agreed to address non-tariff trade barriers to open up trade, tourism and investments in the East ASEAN Growth Area (EAGA), Filipino officials said.
Officials said the move was a breakthrough in attempts to ease up issues on non-tariff trade barriers. Recent dialogue between government officials and trade leaders in the BIMP-EAGA and the Northern Territory recognized their tremendous opportunities for trade, especially in agricultural products, food commodities and construction materials.
Officials said the move was a breakthrough in attempts to ease up issues on non-tariff trade barriers. Recent dialogue between government officials and trade leaders in the BIMP-EAGA and the Northern Territory recognized their tremendous opportunities for trade, especially in agricultural products, food commodities and construction materials.
In a joint communiqué after the 2nd BIMP-EAGA-Darwin Dialogue held recently in Darwin, BIMP-EAGA member countries, the Northern Territory Government and the BIMP-EAGA Business Council (BEBC), have agreed to maximize trade opportunities between the sub-region and Australia by addressing concerns on non-tariff-trade barriers.
They also agreed to explore ways to simplify and share information on customs-immigration-quarantine and security (CIQS) related rules andregulations as well as provide capacity-building assistance for BIMP-EAGA quarantine officials.
Merly Cruz, Filipino regional director of the Department of Trade and Industry, and Philippine Senior Official for BIMP-EAGA, said the agreement augurs well for the sub-region as it offers great opportunity to link up and access the more developed Australian market.
"NT players are interested to tap the East Asia or Asia as a market because they feel they are now ready with Australasia railway in place. It is now positioning its products to Asia, particularly BIMP-EAGA and versa and that it can very well serve as the gateway," said Cruz, adding that the recent completion of Australasia trade route is viewed to further increase trade advantages between BIMP-EAGA, NT and the rest of Australia.
An initiative under the Northern Territory Government's Asian Engagement Plan, Australasia Trade Route is pushing for the creation of a new rail system linking Northern and Southern Australia via BIMP-EAGA and a nautical super highway linking Australia with the Philippines' Strong Republic Nautical Highway.
The plan supports a strategic objective of increased trade and investment through multilateral relationships in Asia particularly the BIMP-EAGAregion.
Under the AustralAsia Trade Route initiative, the sub-region can link up with Australia's import and exports, shipping, value-adding servicesand take advantage of its ongoing regional development projects on rail, road, energy and communication systems.Cruz said they are optimistic that the agreement would bring more BIMP-EAGA products to Australia as an ad-hoc technical committee shall be formed to discuss specific mechanisms in putting up fumigation facilities in the sub-region.
"This is a good indicator of a flourishing BIMP-EAGA NT trade relationships and it would be very important to Mindanao because we have been attempting to bring out products to Australia such as our fresh fruits. We have succeeded a bit but it’s far from significant," she said.
At present, efforts are still being pushed for Philippine mango, pineapple and banana to gain greater market access in Australia.Secretary Jesus Dureza, Philippine Signing Minister for BIMP-EAGA, said the private sector's role in realizing the development of such trade link is crucial.
The NT government has extended support to expanding business linkages in the sub-region through BIMP-EAGA Business Portal project, which offers small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the BIMP-EAGA region to link with the NT and through the NT to the rest of Australia.
"I am pleased that this development has been initiated by the private sector, which as pointed out before, plays a crucial role in the developmentof trade between the regions and Australia," he said.
The 2nd BIMP-EAGA-Darwin Dialogue was attended by representatives from key private sector organizations in EAGA, such as the BIMP-EAGA Business Council (BEBC), BIMP-EAGA Facilitation Center (BIMP-FC), as well as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), ASEAN Secretariat, German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), and officials from Northern Territory (NT) and AusAid.
The Northern Territory had since been adopted as BIMP-EAGA's strategic development partner, and initiated the First BIMP-EAGA-Darwin Dialogue in 2004.
No comments:
Post a Comment