• by IPS Correspondents (davao city, philippines)
• Tuesday, November 22, 1994
• Inter Press Service

DAVAO CITY, Philippines, Nov 22 (IPS) - European colonisation disrupted the busy trade among the peoples of South-east Asia centuries ago, but now countries in the region are busy dusting the cobwebs off old economic ties.

And while territorial conflicts complicate present-day relations among South-east Asian nations, governments have been setting up growth areas that recall the days before the likes of the British, Dutch and Spaniards set foot on their shores.

"We are just really turning back the pages of history," says Vicente Paterno, chairman of the first East ASEAN Business Convention that met recently in the southern Philippine city of Davao.

ASEAN is the acronym of the Association of South-east Asian Nations, which groups together Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore.

Scholars note that Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines especially share a long tradition of trade and family links, which economists and government officials now hope would help make a success of the East ASEAN Growth Area (EAGA) that comprises parts of the four countries around the Sulu Sea.

The EAGA is the third growth polygon started among ASEAN members. The first is SIJORI, which involves Singapore, the Malaysian state of Johor and Indonesia's Riau province.

There is also the North ASEAN growth triangle that joins parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

But EAGA enthusiasts say the newest ASEAN growth area stands out because of an immense wealth of varied natural resources. Says Alan Ortiz, vice-chairman of the Development Bank of the Philippines: "This is perhaps the growth area that is richest in natural resources."

Most of the participants in the East ASEAN Business Convention that ended here Sunday had an easy time ticking off the resources of the places covered by EAGA.

Ismael Salleh of Malaysia's Institute of Strategic and International Study noted, for instance, that Borneo island has one of the world's richest reserves of oil and gas.

East Kalimantan, meanwhile, accounts for 20 percent of Indonesia's crude oil production and has the country's largest coal reserves at 958 million tonnes.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

Where next?

Advertisement