Asean taps SEAFDEC to help develop Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and RP thru fisheries
Representatives of the Asean Foundation and SEAFDEC recently signed an agreement to implement the BIMP-EAGA (Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines-East Asia Growth Areas) Project. The project 'Human Resources Development for the Sustainable Development of Fisheries in the BIMP-EAGA Region' aims to develop strategically isolated areas of the four member countries with potential in fisheries. The BIMP-EAGA region was identified as less developed areas due to its distance from the capital city of each country. Their isolation has resulted in fewer infrastructures, less financial and technical resources for economic activities. These limitations have contributed to slow pace of economic development in these concerned areas.
Considering that the target areas are islands surrounded by oceans Asean and SEAFDEC targeted fisheries as a sector for further development in order to harmonize their economic development with other areas of the concerned countries. By building and strengthening human capacity and human resources in fisheries, a better understanding of fisheries will eventually result in the formulation of development programs and sustainable utilization of fishery resources in the region.
Sustainable fisheries development was highlighted in the Asean-SEAFDEC Conference on Sustainable Fisheries for Food Security in the New Millenium: 'Fish for the People', that was held in Bangkok, Thailand in 2001.
The project will be implemented in the entire country of Brunei Darussalam, West Kalimantan in Indoesia; Sabah State in Malaysia, and Mindanao in the Philippines. It is being funded through the Japan Asean Solidarity Fund. It formally started on April 25, 2005 when the Memorandum of Agreement was signed by SEAFDEC Secretary-General Niwes Ruangpanit and Asean Executive Director Apichai Sunchindah.