BIMP-EAGA Summits

The 15th BIMP-EAGA Summit in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia on 11 May 2023. From left: Brunei Darussalam Minister of Finance Mohd. Amin Liew Abdullah, Indonesia Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, Asian Development Bank President Masatsugu Asakawa, His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia President Joko Widodo, Malaysia Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Haji Anwar Ibrahim, Philippines President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr., ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn, Malaysia Minister of Economy YB Rafizi Bin Ramli, and Mindanao Development Authority Chair Maria Belen Sunga Acosta. Photo credit: Courtesy of ASEAN.

The BIMP-EAGA Summit has served as a platform to reaffirm and demonstrate a continued commitment to the BIMP-EAGA cooperation initiative at the highest political levels. The summit was initiated in 2003 and has been held back-to-back with the ASEAN Summit. The joint statements issued at every summit contain directives from the leaders that strengthen the focus and implementation of BIMP-EAGA programs and projects. The summit gives BIMP-EAGA heightened visibility at the regional/ASEAN level and prominence within the respective national bureaucracies. The summit has also encouraged sector ministerial and high-level meetings (such as on transport, agriculture and fisheries, ICT, and customs) that provide sector-specific guidance and directions.