Special Feature

Held as part of the just-concluded 26th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur and

leaders retreat in Langkawi, the 11th BIMP-EAGA Summit began at the Langkawi International Convention Centre (LICC), Langkawi, Kedah on the morning of 28 April 2015. The 11th BIMP-EAGA Summit was chaired by His Excellency Prime Minister of Malaysia Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and attended by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam, His Excellency Vice President Jusuf Kalla of Indonesia and His Excellency President

1

Our People, Our community, Our Vision MALAYSIA 2015

Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines. The Sabah’s delegation was led by Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah, Deputy Chief Minister cum Minister of Industrial Development, also in attendance to represent Chief Minister of Sabah in the Summit. The Summit started off with the presentation of progress report by Dato’ Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and Minister in-charge of EPU on the Implementation Blue-print (IB) 2012 – 2016. It was reported that of the total 97 projects identified to be

carried out by member countries, 20 were completed, 50 were at the implementation stage and another 27 still on the concept stage. At the end of the Summit, a joint statement was issued by leaders of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Some of the Specific Highlights on 11th BIMP-EA-GA Summit:

• Leaders reaffirms BIMP-EAGA’s importance as a building block towards the realization of ASEAN Community 2015; • Leaders pleased with the achievement of 2009 - 2013, with value of trade increased by more than 70% to USD$166 billion in 2013 and total investment almost tripled to USD$14.8 billion in 2013;

The Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) sub-regional cooperation initiative was formally launched on 24 March 1994 as a key strategy of the participating governments to address the social and economic development of their less developed and more remote territories. BIMP-EAGA’s overall goal is to increase intra-and

extra-EAGA trade, tourism and investments. This goal is to be achieved by facilitating the freer movement of people, goods and services, by rationalizing the development of infrastructure and by the joint management of ecosystems and common resources. BIMP-EAGA comprises the Sultante of Brunei Darussalam; the provinces of Kalimantan,

Sulawesi, the Malukus, West Papua and Papua in eastern Indonesia; the federal territory of Labuan and the state of Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia; and the islands of Mindanao and Pahlawan in the Philippines. EAGA is home to 70 million people and covers a land area of about 1.5 million squarekilometers.

What is BIMP-EAGA?

2

• Leaders welcomes initiative to identify second generation of the Priority Infrastructure Projects (PIPs) towards ensuring advancement of BIMP-EAGA’s connectivity agenda beyond 2016 and satisfied with the implementation of on-going PIPs, consisting of the improvement of roads and expansion of sea ports and airports;

• Leaders reaffirm the importance of the agriculture and fisheries sectors in narrowing the development gaps in the sub-region and the need to further institute programmes and projects to establish BIMP-EAGA as a Food Basket for ASEAN;

Our People, Our community, Our Vision MALAYSIA 2015

The Natural Environment

The natural environment of BIMP-EAGA is ideal for tourism development. It is home to two of the

world’s largest and oldest rainforests (Borneo and Papua), two of the world’s richest marine biodiversity

sites (Sulu and Sulawesi Seas). Five World Heritage Sites are found in BIMP-EAGA: (i) Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, Pahlawan, Philippines; (ii) Kinabalu National Park, Malaysia; (iii) Gunung Mulu National Park,

Malaysia; (iv) Mt. Hamiguitan Wildlife Sanctuary, Davao Oriental, Philippines; and (v) Tubbataha Reef, Pahlawan, Philippines and efforts are being undertaken to jointly packaged and market four of the World Heritage sites.

The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park (PPSRNP) is one of the most

important protected areas of the Philippines. It features a spectacular limestone karst landscape with one of the most complex cave systems. It contains an 8.2 km long underground river. One of the river’s distinguishing features is that it emerges directly into the sea, and its lower portion is subject to tidal influences. The area also represents

a significant habitat for biodiversity conservation. The site contains a full ‘mountain-to-sea’ ecosystem and has some of the most important forests in Asia. The discovery of at least 11 minerals, crystal and egg shape rock formations, and a 20 million year old Miocene age serenia fossil in the cave further add to its scientific value. The PPSRNP contains a full mountain to the sea ecosystem and protect forests, which are among the most

significant in Asia. It represents significant habitat that are important for biodiversity conservation. In recognition of the PPSRNP’s globally significant natural value, it was inscribed to the List of World Heritage Sites on December 4, 1999. Inscription on the list confirms the outstanding universal value of the Park and it’s well integrated state of conservation.

3

(i)Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park

• Leaders recognized the need for sustainable intra-EAGA air services to tap further development of premier regional tourism destination packages in the sub-region, since foreign tourist arrivals since 2009 have grown by almost 60% to 5.1 million in 2013;

4

(ii) Kinabalu National Park

Kinabalu Park was gazetted as the first State Park in Sabah in 1964 and

declared Malaysia’s first World Heretage Site by UNESCO in the year 2000 for its outstanding biological attributes. The main attraction at the Park is none

other than the majestic Mount Kinabalu, one of the highest mountains in South East Asia standing at 4095.2 meters. Apart from traditional mountain climbing, visitors can also experience the Mountain Torq, the world’s highest and Asia’s first Via Ferrata or ‘iron

road’ at 3,200m to 3,800m above sea level. Mount Kinabalu is also the 20th most prominent mountain in the world by topographic prominence. Kinabalu Park is located at Kundasang which is 96 km away from Kota Kinabalu.

(iii) Gunung Mulu National Park

Gunung Mulu is Sarawak’s largest national park (544 sq km), and also Malaysia’s first World

Heritage Area, a status it was awarded in 2000. It is most famous for its limestone cave systems, including the world’s largest cave passage (Deer Cave) and the longest cave in Southeast Asia (Clearwater Cave). The park’s main attractions are the four show caves (Wind, Clearwater, Deer and Langs Caves), all readily accessible by wooden walkways and paths. Other fascinating sights and activities include; a bat observatory; a 480m rainforest canopy skywalk (the world’s longest tree-based walkway);

adventure caving tripsto some of Mulu’s less accessible caves; the challenging Mulu Summit climb, the spectacular Pinnacles trail, and the historic Headhunter’s trail through remote rainforest scenery. Situated 100km from the coast, the park is dominated by three mountains; Gunung Mulu (2,376m), Gunung Api (1,750m), and the as yet unconquered Gunung Benarat (1,585m). Gunung Mulu is sandstone, whilst Gunung Api and Gunung Benarat are formed from limestone and therefore have different geographical features. The summit of Gunung Mulu is covered by moss forests and stunted montane vegetation, whilst

razor-sharp limestone pinnacles, some as high as 50 meters, are found on the upper slopes of Gunung Api. The parks’ forest ecosystems include peatswamp, heath, mixed dipterocarp, moss forest and montene vegetation; home to thousand of species of ferns, fungi, mosses and flowering plants, including 170 species of orchid and 10 species of pitcher plants, an impressive variety of mammals, birds (including 8 species of hornbill), frogs, fish and insects. Mulu’s wildlife is often heard but no seen, but visitors are almost certain to encounter bats, swiftlets, cave dwelling insects, snakes, lizards, tree frogs and an abundance of beautiful butterflies.

(iv) Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary

Mount Hamiguitan is a mountain located in the province of Davao

Oriental, Philippines. The Mount Hamiguitan range, with an area of 6,834 hectares (68.34 km2), was declared a national park and a wildlife sanctuary in 2003. In 2014, the park was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Forming a mountain ridge running north-south along the Pujada Peninsula in the south-eastern part of the Eastern Mindanao Biodiversity Corridor, the Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary has an elevation range of 75 – 1,637 meter above sea level and

provides critical habitat for a range of plant and animal species. The mountain has a protected forest area of approximately 2,000 hectares. This woodland is noted for its unique pygmy forest of century old trees in ultramafic soil, with many endangered, endemic and rare species of flora and fauna. The sanctuary showcases terrestrial and aquatic habitats at different elevations, and includes threatened and endemic flora and fauna species, eight of which are found only at Mount Hamiguitan. These include critically endangered trees, plants and the iconic Philippine eagle and Philippine cockatoo.

The mountain is also known for two unique features. One of these is the “Tinagong Dagat” which, while literally translated as “Hidden Sea,” is actually a lake that curiously experiences high and low tides. But its most famous feature is its unique 225 hectares of bonsai trees estimated to be at least a century old and forming what has been considered as the country’s largest “pygmy forest.” The bonsai formations, as well as the diversity of plant and animal habitats, are largely credited to Mt. Hamiguitan’s ultramafic nature.

5

• Leaders commended the private sector under the leadership of the BIMP-EAGA Business Council (BEBC) for the progress in the implementation of the BIMP-EAGA Submarine Terrestrial Cable project to enhance the development of e-Commerce with the sub-region;

6

BIMP-EAGA Submarine and Terrestrial Cable

The BIMP-EAGA Rink project is aimed to provide infrastructural connectivity to

meet the high demand for ICT among businesses and residents. The State Government of Sabah and Brunei Darussalam signed the MoU on Governance, Cooperation and Development in Information and Communications Technology and Multimedia on 9 July, 2012. The objective of this MoU is to promote governance, cooperation and development designed to assist ICT and Multimedia initiatives. Brunei International Gateway and SEDCO Communications Sdn. Bhd. Sabah signed the MoU as private sector proponents to the project on 9 July, 2012. The MoU intended to collaborate and provide hybrids of communication infrastructure to enable high-speed international capacity access and service roll-out between Sabah and Brunei Darussalam and also aimed at helping with the implementation of BIMP-EAGA Rink project. The BIMP-EAGA Submarine and Terrestrial Cable Project (BIMP-EAGA Rink) will connect a high bandwidth cable system of over 5,092 kilometers to link the BIMP-EAGA areas. The project is estimated to

have an investment cost of more than USD$150 Million. A Special Purpose Vehicle, BIMP-EAGA Submarine Terrestrial (BEST) Cable Corporation (BCC) Pte Ltd, has been formed to operate and manage the BIMP-EAGA Rink. The SPV registration is done with the three Initial Agencies (Brunei International Gateway Sdn Bhd (BIG), Sedcom Communication Sdn Bhd of Sabah, Malaysia and EA Trilink Corporation of Southern Philippines, Rentang Telekom Asia (RTA), which represents Indonesia has signed an MoU with BBC. The BCC signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the turnkey contractors, ie China National Technical Import and Export Corporation (CNTIC) of the Peoples’ Republic of China and NMV Development Corporation of Canada, to construct the cable. The BIMP-EAGA Rink is ready for services by 2016. Engineering Procurement Contract (EPC) signing on 30 October 2014 between BEST Cable (BCC) with the turnkey contractors China National Technical Import and Export Corporation (CNTIC) of the PRC and NMV Development Corporation of Canada, to construct cable system. Brunei International Gateway (BIG) and BCC MOA signed 18

November 2014 during the 23rd BIMP-EAGA SOM for the interconnection of BCC to AAG and South-East Asia Japan Cable (SJC) systems linking BEST Cable to Mainland USA and China and Japan. The possible landing sites are Tungku, Brunei Darussalam, Menumbuk and Tawau in Sabah, Malaysia and Parang, Mindanao, Philippines. The landing site for Indonesia will be in Kalimantan and Manado, Sulawesi.