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INDONESIA, Malaysia, and Thailand have finished discussing the frame of cooperation (FoC) in the customs, immigration, and quarantine fields amid the COVID-19 pandemic and plan to endorse and adopt the partnership next year.
According to Director of the Center for Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (CIMT), Firdaus Dahlan, made the remarks after attending the 26th meeting of IMT-GT ministers, held virtually recently.
The discussion on the partnership had come to a standstill since 2014. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the sub-regional partnership managed to conclude the discussion on FoC in the customs, immigration, and quarantine fields, he said in a written statement.
He reiterated the three countries hope to endorse and adopt the cooperation document in 2021.
“(The cooperation in the customs field) is expected to bring about larger benefits to the trade sector and goods supply chain through simplified regulations and procedures,” he said.
Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, which share land and sea borders, established economic and trade cooperation called the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) in 1993 with the aim of improving welfare and economic growth in the three countries, with a total population of about 84 million.
To that end, IMT-GT has held several routine programs to gather stakeholders in the three countries. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the three countries held the 26th meeting of IMT-GT ministers virtually.
At the meeting, the three countries also discussed the strategy of expanding the market for the three countries’ export products through digital spaces.
“IMT-GT plans to launch IMT-GT E-Commerce Platform in 2021 to welcome the digital era in the trade sector,” he noted.
The three countries also affirmed their commitment to complete several infrastructure projects worth US$51 billion. The projects include bridges, ports, railway tracks, land transportation, and special economic zones.
“Most of the development projects will be completed in 2021,” he concluded. [antaranews/photo special]
