CROSS-BORDER investment within the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) will be key to the future success of the Philippine halal industry, the head of an industry association said.
At a conference on Tuesday, PCCI President Enunina V. Mangio said collaboration within BIMP-EAGA will help the Philippine halal industry prove its global competitiveness.
“We believe that halal is a key area where our cultural and economic commonalities offer unique opportunities for partnership and innovation,” Ms. Mangio said.
“Investment flows across our borders will drive the development of infrastructure, enhance technological capabilities, and create new industries that can thrive within our integrated regional economy,” she added.
She said other areas ripe for collaboration are agriculture, manufacturing, services, and tourism.
During a panel discussion, Brunei Darussalam Ambassador Megawati Manan said that her country has a skilled workforce and imports raw materials in volume.
“Brunei’s niche is our highly educated human resources … We can always see that there are opportunities there in terms of exporting our talent within the BIMP-EAGA region,” she said.
“In terms of halal, we are importing a lot of raw materials, especially (farm products), and we have our eyes on the Philippines right now,” she added.
She said that Brunei could also help bring Philippine halal products to the Middle East.
“We are looking at a third-party manufacturer that will bring agricultural produce into Brunei to be manufactured … which will be packaged with the Brunei halal brand to help the products go up to the Middle East,” she said.
Malaysian Ambassador Dato Abdul Malik Melvin Castelino said that the key focus for the BIMP-EAGA should be the regions’ natural resources.
“The Philippines is one of the key players in the BIMP-EAGA region. It has a lot of resources, including copper, gold, nickel, and, of course, many agricultural products like bananas, pineapples, and coconut,” he said.
“These resources complement the industrial and manufacturing needs of the region, with countries importing and exporting raw materials and semi-processed goods,” he added.
He also added that other significant areas of cooperation include the cross-border trade in fisheries, textiles, automotive, electronics, and semiconductors.
Indonesian Ambassador Agus Widjojo said that since the BIMP-EAGA countries have much in common in terms of natural resources.
“That poses a challenge when we have to look for opportunities, but we also have differences, which is why we belong to different countries,” he said.
“We have different political systems, characteristics of society, and characteristics of the state. So, I think it is within those realms that we have to find opportunities,” he added.
He said that the focus should be on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to generate employment.
“This is very important to build the economic structure of each country, increase participation in productive sectors of the economy, and fill domestic demand,” he said.
“However, to strengthen those SMEs, we need to be equipped with good infrastructure, including modes of transportation and logistics services,” he added.
On Tuesday, business chambers from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia joined the PCCI in signing a memorandum of cooperation to expand the flow of goods and services and generate more investment within BIMP-EAGA. — Justine Irish D. Tabile
