Message from the Director Events in & around the Triangle

IMT-GT went through another

cycle of its institutional and
delivery process when the 17th
Ministerial Meeting and Senior Announcement
Officials’ Meeting took place in
Krabi, Thailand from 3 to 5
Symposium on Energy Saving and
August 2010. Two major
exercises conducted by the IMT- Biofuel Utilization
GT stakeholders conducted in
2009/2010, namely the Roadmap Date : 1 - 2 September, 2010
Mid-Term Review and Business Venue : International Convention Centre,
Process Review were reported Prince Songkhla University, Hat Yai,
Thailand
and endorsed by the Ministers, in addition to the
progress reports made by the Working Groups and the
Joint Business Council.
5TH IMT-GT Summit
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The 7 Chief Ministers and Governors Forum also saw
two new agenda promoting more concerted public- Date : 28 -30 October 2010
private partnerships with presentations made by Venue : Hanoi, Vietnam
State/Provincial planning officers on the State/Provincial
development plan for the private sector to pick up
business opportunities on the one hand, and IMT-GT Post Summit Planning
presentations made by the private sector to both private Meeting
and public sector participants, on the other hand.
Date : November 2010
Two new meetings have also now become a feature of Venue : Thailand
the annual IMT-GT Ministerial and Senior Officials’
Meeting, meetings with new Development Partners.
More work is at hand to prepare the Framework of
Cooperation (FoC) with the respective Development
Partners.

On the whole, the various meetings proceeded

successfully, but the challenge remains for all
stakeholders involved to implement the various decisions
arrived at and endorsed during the meetings, and to
ensure that the IMT-GT framework still remain relevant.
CIMT Bulletin Editorial Team
by Dr.Hassan Ibrahim Ritzwan Reza Ibrahim reza@imtgt.org

Hamiliana Ali hamiliana@imtgt.org

Nurshiela Ismail shiela@imtgt.org

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 th
Report on the 17 SOM in Krabi, Thailand
The 17 th Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) of the
Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth-Triangle (IMT-GT)
was convened in Maritime Park & Spa Resort in Krabi,
Thailand on the 3rd of August 2010. In this yearly high-
level meeting, the Thailand Delegation was led by Hon.
Dr. Porametee Vimolsiri, while the Indonesian Delegation
was led by Hon. Dr. Raldi Koestoer, and the Malaysian
Delegation was led by Hon. Mr. Razali Che Mat. Similar
to the previous year’s SOM, delegates from the
provinces and states of the IMT-GT subregion also
attended the meeting, including the IMT-GT Joint
Business Council (JBC), the Centre for IMT-GT
Subregional Cooperation (CIMT), and representatives
from Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Progress and development of the IMT-GT cooperation
since the 16th SOM in October 2009 report was
presented by the outgoing Chair, Malaysia. In essence,
the report narrated the successful completion of all
Working Group (WG) Meetings in a parallel session in
Penang during the IMT-GT Special Consultation Meeting
(SCM) last July 2010 and the timely completion of the
Mid-Term Review (MTR) and Business Process Review
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(BPR) as directed during the 16 SOM.
All Working Group (WG) sectors presented their report
on their accomplishments and developments for the year
2009/2010 and it is noted that during the SCM last July,
an overhaul on the Action Plan Matrix was made,
resulting in reprioritization and dropping of some projects
by the IMT-GT Working Groups.
ADB also presented its report on the MTR and BPR to
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the Senior Officials as tasked in the last 16 SOM. ADB
stated that further work was necessary in terms of
improving financial planning, the mix of projects and their
link to underlying sector strategies, detailing the scope
and benefits of projects, and ensuring accountability for
project deliverables.
Senior Officials delegates from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, ADB,
and JBC for the 17th SOM.
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Report on the 17 MM in Krabi, Thailand
The 17th Ministerial Meeting (MM) of the Indonesia-
Malaysia-Thailand Growth-Triangle (IMT-GT) was held in
Krabi, Thailand on 5 August 2010. The Thailand
Delegation was led by H.E. Satit Wongnongtaey, Minister
attached to the Prime Minister Office, Thailand. The
Indonesian Delegation was led by H.E. Dr. Raldi Hendro
Koestoer, Acting Signing Minister for IMT-GT, Republic
of Indonesia. The Malaysian Delegation was led by H. E.
Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, Minister in the Prime
Minister’s Department. This yearly meeting was
th
preceded by the 17 Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) and
th
the 7 Chief Ministers and Governor’s Forum.
The Hon. Dr. Porametee Vimolsiri, as the Chairman of
the SOM presented the Report of 17th Senior Officials’
Meeting. Discussions on the report has raised a few
notable highlights, namely Malaysia highlighted the need
to place Food Safety and High Value Agriculture as a key
area of engagement with Japan under the IMT-GT-Japan
cooperation. The Meeting noted the proposal for
Malaysia to host a Joint Food Safety and High Value
Agriculture Conference & Exhibition between Japan,
BIMP-EAGA and IMT-GT, as a pathfinder initiative
towards charting a Framework of Cooperation (FoC)
between these partnership entities.
Malaysia also highlighted that ADB would need to
undertake preparatory efforts towards an
implementation-orientated Roadmap 2012 and Beyond,
beginning early 2011, with consultation from the
stakeholders.
ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC) took note of the projects and
initiatives such as CIQs that have been put forward in the
effort to transform the region into a dynamic and
economically viable area. Those projects in MTR and
PCP had an important role towards realising the ASEAN
Economic Community vision in 2015.
Delegations from Indonesia during the 17th Ministerial Meeting
A Profile of the North Sumatera Province by the Government of North Sumatera

Geography

v North Sumatera Province is located on the West of Indonesia, specifically at 10o – 40 o longitude and 98o – 100o
latitude. It is on the sail track of the Malacca Strait. The North borders with the Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam
Province, while to the East with Malaysia at the Malacca Strait, and to the South, it borders with Riau Province and
West Sumatera, and to the West with the Hindian Ocean.
v The land width is 71,680.68 km2. It is the 9th largest Province in Indonesia. Most of it is the land of Sumatera
Island and the small parts are in Nias Island, Batu Islands and some other small islands, either on the west or on
the east of the Sumatera Island coastal.
v The topography is mainly flat, hilly, and wavy up to the mountain. Generally it is classified into 3 areas; East Coast,
West Coast and the High Lands.

Climate

v Climate is classified as Humid Tropical with high raindrops and almost average rainfall for the whole year.
v Maximum temperature of the lower grounds can reach up to to 35.8 Celcius, and the minimum temperature in the
higher ground can reach up to 13.4 Celcius.
v Season consists of the rainy season (November to March) and the dry season (June to September).

Demography

v Population of North Sumatera in 2008 was 13,042,317 people with the population density of 182 people per km
2

and the population growth in 2000 – 2008 is 1.57% per year.

v It is the fourth biggest populated region in Indonesia after East Java, West Java and Central Java.
v Total population who live in the rural areas are 7.01 million people (54.63%) and in the cities 5.82 million people
(45.37%).

Government Administration

v The province consists of 25 Regencies, 8 Towns/Cities, 417 Districts, 5,856 villages or wards.
v The province’s capital city, Medan, has a population of 2.1 million people.

Social Culture

v Consist of various tribes and ethnic groups. The genuine ethnic groups consist of 8 tribes (Malay, Karo, Batak
Toba, Batak Angkola, Batak Pesisir, Nias, Phakpak and Simalungun) and the most foreign ethnic groups come
from Javanese as well as Chinese, Indian and Arabic.
v Base on the religion, it has Islam, Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, and Buddha.
v North Sumatera is the most successful region in building harmony from many various cultures and religions.

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Source information is gleaned from the presentation by the North Sumateran Government during the 17 SOM in
Krabi, Thailand.

Lake Toba, the largest volcanic lake in the world Grand Mosque of Medan, North Sumatera

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Melaka International Airport, Malaysia by the Melaka State Government

Melaka International Airport (LTAM), previously known as Batu Berendam International Airport (LTTB), is the oldest
airport in Malaysia with significant historical value. The airport is the starting point of Malaysia’s history when the late
YTM Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, Malaysia’s Father of Independence, declared Malaysia’s independence after
coming home from leading the Independence trip to the United Kingdom.

Now, 53 years later, another history was made with the completion of the LTTB Upgrade Project (Phase I) costing
RM131.5 million (USD42 million) and the LTBB Landing Strip Elongation Project (Phase II) costing RM56.7 million
(USD18.1 million).

Previously, the airport which could only receive landings from small aircrafts such as Fokker, is now capable of
handling larger aircrafts such as the Airbus A320 and the Boeing 737. Other features of the new airport are the modern
main terminal with capacities of 1.5 million passengers per year, 2,135 meters of landing strip, air traffic control tower
and a new Airfield Ground Lighting. The federal government had set aside funds amounting to RM131.5 million
(USD42 million) for the successful completion of this project.

Melaka state government stated the airport project as a pro-active long-term plan in creating an air transport
infrastructure to amplify the development of the flight industry in Melaka. The airport is also in line with the Melaka
governments policies in the National Key Result Area (NKRA) to improve the transport network and to simplify the
mobility of people’s daily activities.

As of today, there are 3 companies that utilize the airport namely Riau Airlines, Firefly Airlines and Wings Air. Riau
Airlines, previously known as Merpati Nusantara Airlines, has been operating 5 days a week since July 2002 for the
Pekan Baru-Melaka-Pekan Baru sector.

Firefly Airlines offers chartered flights from Melaka-Medan-Melaka as a start and will offer more services in the future.
Indonesia’s Wings Air has started scheduled flights everyday from Pekan Baru-Melaka-Pekan Baru on 9 July 2010.
Business dealings and discussions are being done vigorously by the Melaka state government with other airline
companies for opportunities in new domestic and international flights.

Melaka International Airport’s newest air control tower A view of the new modern main terminal

Riau Airlines offers 5 days a week travelling to Melaka - Pekan Baru Aircraft fleet of Wings Airline

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