GOVERNMENT AND private sector representatives of the four-country BIMP-EAGA are meeting in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei starting yesterday, Feb. 14, for the annual strategic planning under the sub-region’s Vision 2025. In a statement, the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) said the 2018 BIMP-EAGA Strategic Planning Meeting aims to identify specific projects for the sub-region’s five pillars of development, which are connectivity, food basket, environment, tourism, and sociocultural and education. MinDA is the Philippine’s coordinating office for the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines-East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA). “This year’s meeting focuses (on) concretizing steps to operationalize strategies under the BIMP-EAGA Vision 2025 as adopted by the Heads of States during the EAGA Leaders Summit in Manila last year,” said Assistant Secretary Romeo M. Montenegro, MinDA deputy executive director. Mr. Montenegro said among the identified projects are “establishment of new air and sea links, cross-border power interconnection and renewable energy development, agribusiness development, better trade facilitation arrangements, sociocultural exchanges, eco-tourism and green cities development.” The Philippine focus areas for BIMP-EAGA are Mindanao and Palawan. — Mindanao Bureau

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