IMT-GT Bizmen To Attend Meeting In Pekanbaru

Pekanbaru, Jan. 21 (ANTARA) - Businessmen from countries grouped in the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) will attend a meeting in Pekanbaru, Riau Province, February 5-7, 2010. "At least 200 businessmen will participate in three-day IMT-GT meeting early February," M Herwan, Executive Director of the Riau chapter of Kadin (Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry), here on Thursday. The 28th Joint Business Council Meeting (JBCM) 2010 of IMT-GT would discuss investment cooperation in the fields of, among other things, infrastructures, tourism, human resources, agriculture, and plantation, he said. Most of the businessmen who will join the IMT-GT meeting are members of respective countries chambers of commerce and industry. "For Thailand, businessmen joining the IMT-GT are those from southern Thailand such as Puket, Songkla, Pattani, and its surrounding areas," he said. On February 4, one day before the IMT-GT meeting, members of the Sumatra chapters of KADIN will hold meeting especially to anticipate business opportunities to be offered by Malaysian and Thai businessmen. The Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) is a subregional cooperation initiative formed in 1993 by the governments of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand to accelerate economic transformation in less developed provinces. The private sector has played and will continue to play a key role in promoting economic cooperation in IMT-GT. Since its formation, the IMT-GT has grown in geographic scope and activities to encompass more than 70 million people. It is now composed of 14 provinces in southern Thailand, 8 states of Peninsular Malaysia, and the 10 provinces of Sumatra in Indonesia. The IMT-GT Roadmap for Development 2007-2011 defines the strategies and plans for achieving the IMT-GTs vision of a seamless, progressive, prosperous and peaceful subregion, with improved quality of life. Adopted by the Second IMT-GT Summit in 2006, the Roadmap serves both as a strategic framework, as well as a plan of action to guide subregional cooperation.