Malaysia, Brunei Reaffirm Commitment On Economic Corridors

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and Brunei have reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen the existing cooperation on economic corridors particularly with the states of Sabah and Sarawak (east Malaysia's states). In a joint statement on Tuesday after the 16th Annual Leaders' Consultation between Malaysia and Brunei in Putrajaya, Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak and Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei expressed satisfaction with on-going efforts to promote closer economic collaboration between Sarawak and Brunei in identified sectors including telecommunications, tourism, halal hub development and agriculture. The statement was released by the Malaysian Foreign Ministry. The leaders also looked forward to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on power connectivity between Sarawak and Brunei as well as mutual investments in power projects that would strengthen cooperation on energy security towards the realisation of the greater Asean Power Grid, it said. The Asean Power Grid (APG), an energy connectivity project, aims to strengthen regional energy security. As for Sabah, the statement said, both leaders, during the consulation, had also expressed satisfaction with on-going efforts to intensify economic cooperation between Sabah and Brunei, particularly the signing of the Heads of Terms Agreement relating to the Keningau Integrated Livestock Centre between the Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority, and Annam Corporation on June 16. They also expressed satisfaction with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) relating to information and communications technology (ICT) instrastructure between Brunei and Sabah on July 10. "The leaders were encouraged that the collaboration in ICT infrastructure would also contribute to enhancing the implementation of the the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) sub-region," the statement said. The MoU was to provide communication infrastructure hybrids to enjoy high-speed international capacity access and service roll-out between Sabah and Brunei. "The leaders considered the cooperation in the ICT field as an effective means to promote collaboration in research and development activities between creative industries from Malaysia and Brunei," the statement added. Both leaders also urged the relevant authorities in both countries to conclude a MoU on ICT, before the next Annual Leaders' Consultation in 2013, which will be held in Brunei. Furthermore, the leaders regarded the signing of a MoU between the two nations on Economic Cooperation on Sunday (Sept 2), as an important umbrella instrument for comprehensive economic collaboration to create more extensive trade and investment between them. In addition, to welcome Brunei's participation in Malaysia's economic corridors in Sabah, Sarawak, Iskandar Malaysia and the East Coast Economic Region, Najib also welcomed Brunei's interest to invest in the Greater Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley initiatives, as well as in the re-development initiatives of Kampung Baru in Kuala Lumpur. "In this regard, both leaders urged the relevant agencies to look into the potential opportunities offered by the initiatives," said the statement. The statement added that Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah also showed interest in the methodology behind Malaysia's Government and Economic Transformation Programmes (GTP and ETP). During the consultation, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah expressed his appreciation to Najib for the participation of Malaysian companies in projects under the Brunei Economic Development Board and the Brunei Industrial Development Authority, and encouraged their involvement in other development projects. Both leaders were pleased with the progress of the construction of a bridge spanning the Pandaruan River and looked forward to its timely completion and officiating its opening by the next Annual Leader's Consulation in 2013. On cross-border trade, the leaders instructed the relevant agencies of both countries to continue discussions and ensuring the smooth flow of goods and services, and resolve outstanding issues such as shipping, agriculture, taxation and cooperative developments, as soon as possible. Earlier, the two leaders had witnessed the exchange of documents pertaining to the Agreement on Economic Cooperation between the Malaysian and Brunei Governments. -- BERNAMA