d COTABATO CITY โ The BIMP-EAGA Economic Growth Linkages Sub-Committee, chaired by the Bangsamoro Planning and Development Authority (BPDA), convened for its second regular meeting on Friday, June 28, to address issues concerning Philippine-EAGA interests in the Bangsamoro region.
Among the topics discussed were preparations and agenda for the Philippine-EAGA follow-through convergence meeting and action planning session on July 9-10, 2024, as well as the submission of the Bangsamoro governmentโs final inputs to the Philippine-EAGA various pillars and cluster plans, based on specific targets and timelines using the prescribed template.
Meanwhile, sub-committee members were briefly orientated on the Blue Economy, entitled โEmbracing Blue Economy Principles as a Strategy towards Achieving Sustainable Development.โ The orientation was presented via video teleconference by Dr. Michael Lochinvar Sim Abundo, Chief Executive Officer of OceanPixel PTE LTD. According to Dr. Abundo, the World Bank defines the Blue Economy as the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs, while preserving the health of ocean ecosystems.
He also shared the ASEAN definition on the Blue Economy as an integrated, holistic, cross-sectoral, and cross-stakeholder approach that creates value-added and value-chain of resources from oceans, seas, and fresh water in inclusive and sustainable way, making the blue economy the new engine for ASEAN’s future economic growth. The ASEAN Blue Economy covers upstream-downstream sectors, serving as an accelerator of the conventional marine sector.
Furthermore, the sub-committee agreed to support and push through the formulation of the blue, green, and circular economy roadmap for the Bangsaramoro region. The roadmap shall serve as the blue print of the BARMM government in harnessing the economic potential of the regionโs natural resources towards sustainable and resilient development.
The committee also discussed the opening of a new port of entry in the municipality of Turtle Island, Tawi-Tawi, highlighting the proposal to establish the customs, immigration, quarantine, and security (CIQS). The opening of new port of entry shall likewise support the Philippine-EAGA priority project in the area which is the ecotourism development in Turtle Islands Wildlife Sanctuary (TIWS). (๐๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐ค๐ซ๐๐ก๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐ค๐จ๐ / ๐ฝ๐๐ฟ๐ผ-๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐๐)