Governance issues in international trade in the BIMP-EAGA

Abstract

Since the BIMP-EAGA has gone through some bumpy rides in the recent past, international trade and governance issues the region have surfaced. The BIMP-EAGA (or simply EAGA) stands for the Brunei Darussalam Indonesia Malaysia the Philippines - East ASEAN growth Area. It is the Asia's largest regional grouping, spanning territories of four ASEAN countries.EAGA comprises the entire sultanate of Brunei Darussalam; 10 provinces in the Indonesian islands of Kalimantan,Sulawesi, Maluku and Irian Jaya; Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan in Malaysia; and Mindanao and Palawan regions in the Phillippines. Its land are of roughly 1.54 million square kilometers is home to almost 45 million people now.

In today’s era of economic ccoperation and globalisation, and trade liberalization B1MP-EAGA is observed by many if it’s consistent with economic policies and specific agreements between members of ASEAN in the implementation of its Free Trade Area (AFIA). Since the functionality of this growth area fall squarely within the frameworks of APEC and the much larger WTO; there are some issues in governance and in trade that surround it.

Since BIMP-EAGA is not a multi-government program per se, but rather a joint public-private sector mechanisms in four countries for bringing investment and opportunities to the business ccmmunity, through initiatives of four member governments; again the issues in governance are important to look at.

Good governance offers hope of increased trade, tourism, and invesunents in the region via facilitation of free movement of people, goods, and services; the sharing of common infrastrucrure and natural resources; and the pursuance of economic ccmplementation; in the BIMP-ARGA.