BIMP-EAGA delegates meet to chart tourism collaboration

LABUAN: Malaysian business leaders yesterday met their counterparts from Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines to explore joint-venture collaborations in the tourism sector.

They made up the East Asean Growth Area ( BIMP- EAGA) delegatesattendingthe14thBIMPEAGA ( Brunei DarussalamIndonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area) Joint Tourism Development Cluster Meeting here from Oct 24-27.

The delegates delve into, among others, community-based ecotourism, United Nations Organisation for Education, Science and Culture’s (UNESCO) world heritage sites, national and marine parks, signature events, halal tourism and culinary experience.

They also discuss on the development and promotion of ecotourism, tourism destinations, tourism circuits (intra and inter-regional), joint promotion and marketing activities, and participation in local and international expos and events in their respective countries.

Other issues are tourism access, connectivity, and infrastructure to ecotourism sites, air linkages, cruise tourism, human resource development ( sustainable ecotourism and ASEAN standards) and tourism data.

Welcoming the 46 BIMP-EAGA delegates to Labuan, Member of Parliament for Labuan Datuk Rozman Isli said the meeting would greatly contribute to the island’s efforts in enhancing trade and investments within BIMP-EAGA, as well as promoting tourism.

“The visit is a great opportunity for Labuan to showcase our local products to our EAGA counterparts.

“We expect succeeding business sessions to occur by next year to finalise partnerships and joint ventures developed and discussed during the meeting,” he told Bernama.

Rozman, who is also Labuan Corporation chairman, said the government has always encouraged more business groups from the sub-region to actively participate in interEAGA business ventures.

“EAGA’s private sector plays a crucial role of stirring the sub-region’s business climate and we urge them to pursue joint-venture collaborations that will expand their market reach,” he said.

As Malaysia’s only international financial and oil and gas hub, he said Labuan has a lot to offer in terms of investment and tourism development opportunities. — Bernama