Pontianak – The governor of West Kalimantan, H. Sutarmidji led the 4th Chief Minister Meeting, Governors and Local Government Forum of BIMP-EAGA to mark the start of the 25th BIMP-EAGA Ministerial Meeting held in Qubu Resort Hotel, Friday (25/11). The Deputy Minister for Coordination of International Economic Cooperation, Edi Prio Pambudi also joined the governor of West Kalimantan, H. Sutarmidji, to lead the meeting that was attended by all head regions or the representation from each covered region.

  

The previous BIMP-EAGA attended by head regions was held in 2008 in Makassar, South Sulawesi. The recovery of COVID-19 effects as well as the unexpected global condition challenge becomes the background reason to reactivate the cooperation forums between regional governments, especially to strengthen the cooperation in concrete programs and contribute to offering direct benefits to recover the economic regions and society. The statement was stated by Sutarmidji to start his welcome speech.

It is also in line with the Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the 2025 BIMP-EAGA Vision (BEV 2025), where one of them is recommending institutional strengthening, including strengthening the head regions’ participation for more comprehensive BEV 2025 implementation.

“I believe that if this forum is used accordingly, it can also support the economic growth and development in regions. Therefore, strengthening this institutional forum is a must. We have to design the next strategic work plan in order to utilize the BIMP-EAGA framework,” Sutarmidji stated.

 

To wrap it up, this meeting agreed to the 5th CMLGF in Brunei Darussalam in 2023. In this meeting, the Senior Official and National Secretariat from all BIMP-EAGA country members as well as the representation of the BIMP-EAGA Business Council (BEBC) and ADB also attended this meeting. The governor of West Kalimantan as Indonesia delegation was accompanied by the Indonesia ambassador in Bandar Seri Begawan, the Deputy Minister for Coordination of International Economic Cooperation as Senior Official, the Regional Secretary of West Kalimantan, Regional Secretary of East Kalimantan, and Assistant Deputy for Regional and Sub-Regional Economic Cooperation as National Secretariat.