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Trade and Investment Facilitation

BIMP-EAGA wants to lower barriers to trade and investment to boost cross-border trade and create a good investment environment.

Trade and Investment Facilitation Sector StrategyOutcome, Outputs, and Metrics
EAGA = East ASEAN Growth Area, FDI = foreign direct investment, SMEs = small and medium-sized enterprises.

Improving trade and investment facilitation can drive economic growth in BIMP-EAGA and boost the development of the agribusiness, manufacturing, and tourism sectors.

BIMP-EAGA has made some progress in streamlining trade rules and enhancing the investment climate over the years. However, it still faces challenges and implementation bottlenecks that hamper the movement of goods from farms to ports and markets. It has weak mechanisms for collecting and disseminating information on business opportunities and regulatory environments, and cumbersome cross-border trade and customs rules and regulations. 

Improving the flow of trade and investment in the subregion will entail the following:

  • Streamline trade rules, regulations, and procedures to facilitate cross-border trade. Reforms in customs, immigration, quarantine, and security (CIQS) rules and procedures at the country level are seen to improve the cross-border trade environment for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).  
  • Identify and promote investment opportunities within the supply and value chains along priority economic corridors. BIMP-EAGA will prioritize selected industries within the economic corridors where subregional supply and value chains can be established.  
  • Increase the participation of SMEs in the corridor supply and value chains. As the backbone of the BIMP-EAGA economies, SMEs heavily influence the growth of trade, investment, and tourism.  
  • Improve public–private sector trade and investment promotion initiatives. This involves organizing trade and investment promotion initiatives in and out of the subregion.