MALAYSIA, Kominfotik – The 6th Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area Chief Ministers, Governors, and Local Governments’ Forum (BIMP-EAGA CMGLF) was held on Wednesday (16/10/2024) in Kinabalu City, Sabah, Malaysia. From Indonesia, appointed as the head of the CMGLF delegation is the Acting Gorontalo Governor, Rudy Salahuddin.
On that ocassion, the Acting Governor conveyed the development of the IKN capital city which is expected to create a new economic growth center in the eastern region of Indonesia. In addition, Rudy also explained investment and economic opportunities, potential cooperation, and the role of local governments in BIMP-EAGA.
“Investment opportunities in agriculture-based industries that can be developed in Gorontalo Province are beef cattle with the availability of superior forage in Boalemo Regency and seaweed cultivation in Pohuwato regency . In North Kalimantan, there is the development of Adan and organic rice,” Rudy expressed.
On that forum, Rudy also proposed to build an integrated tourist destination. Rudy revealed a number of unique tourist destinations in Gorontalo that can be developed, including Saronde Island, Lombongo, Otanah Fort, Olele marine park, Lake Limboto, and religious tourism in Bubohu Village.
“The BIMP-EAGA area has unique tourism potential. We propose to establish cooperation between regions in the tourism sector,” he stated.
Furthermore, the Acting Governor encouraged in order to enhance the cooperation and connectivity between border, maritime, and export areas. Based on the data from the Central Statistics Agency, exports at the Port of Indonesia-EAGA in 2023 decreased by 16 percent with a value of USD8,998.34, which in the previous year was recorded at USD10,673.09. Meanwhile, imports in 2023 will reach USD5,636.02, up from USD3,841.92 in 2022.
Rudy Salahuddin in his presentation also conveyed the need to strengthen the role of local governments in BIMP-EAGA. According to him, local governments play an important role in linking economic activities in the BIMP-EAGA area, harmonizing, supporting, and utilizing cooperation with development partners, exchanging information and data, building capacity, and building a stable institutional mechanism for CMGLF.
“BIMP-EAGA must be a practical initiative to narrow the development gap by creating economic opportunities and linking cross-border activities,” he concluded.
Reporter : Haris
Translated by Fera Katili
