Palawan-Kota Kinabalu flights to boost trade

MANILA, Philippines - Palawan will soon be connected to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah as part of the economic and trade cooperation among the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma said on Monday.

Coloma said President Benigno S. Aquino III and leaders of the Southeast Asian countries agreed to concretize the proposed connections of roads, airports and seaports through the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA). Leaders of the four countries met during the 24th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Myanmar and held the 10th BIMP-EAGA summit there.

Coloma said aside from direct flights from Puerto Princesa to Kota Kinabalu, private companies also signed a memorandum of agreement to establish the Davao-General Santos-Bitung shipping service, which will connect Mindanao to Sulawesi in Indonesia.

He said the economic cooperation is also meant to boost the livelihood of citizens of the four countries.

BIMP-EAGA is a subregional economic bloc established in 1994 to spur economic development and trade liberalization in the resource-rich area covered by the entire sultanate of Brunei Darussalam; the provinces of Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku, West Papua and Papua in Indonesia; the states of Sabah and Sarawak, and the federal territory of Labuan in Malaysia; and the island of Mindanao and the province of Palawan in the Philippines.