BIMP-EAGA officials to meet in Manila

DAVAO CITY — Over 50 key officials and private sector representatives of the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippine-East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) are slated to meet in Manila next week in renewed efforts to strengthen relations within the geo-economic grouping.

The Informal Senior Officials Meeting (ISOM) is slated on June 3-4 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Manila. It is the first to be held since such meetings were temporarily shelved due to economic and security problems affecting the sub-region.

EAGA, which has a market base of over 55 million consumers, comprises the sub-national economies of Brunei Darussalam, East Indonesia, East Malaysia, Min—danao and Palawan.

It was formally created in March 1994 to help fast-track the economies of its component areas.

The Mindanao Economic Development Council, the appointed Philippine coordinating office of EAGA, said the ISOM will assess and evaluate the institutional mechanisms that have been put in place within the region. — Edith Regalado