The Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) sub-regional economic cooperation was an initiative formed in 1993 by the governments of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. The goal of IMT-GT is to push the private sector of the member states to be leaders in trading and investment, leading to economic growth. Furthermore, it aims to support regional economic development by exploiting their economic advantages as their similarity in geography, environment, religion, culture, tradition, and language. The member states’ governments agreed to promote the private sector role in building economic growth. The governments will provide the environment and infrastructure that facilitate economic development and push IMT-GT to be a part of the economic development plan. 

The Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) continuously conducts its meeting activities. Recently, the IMT-GT held the 15th IMT-GT Summit for the development plan on May 11, 2023, at Labuan Bajo, Indonesia. The IMT-GT representatives of the three countries jointly celebrated the 30th anniversary of the IMT-GT establishment with essential achievements of the cooperation, such as the continuous increase in the subregion’s GDP value. At the same time, Thailand highlighted four key development aspects, as follows: 1) Accelerate to develop the pending transport infrastructure projects and add new projects in physical connection projects (PCPs) for seamless connectivity and in line with Thailand's MR Map plan; 2) Accelerate cooperation in the palm oil industry by focusing on promoting value-added production for oil palm, which is an important economic crop of IMT-GT, as well as emphasizing all sectors to accelerate the implementation of oil palm projects to achieve concrete results and to attract investments in the oil palm industry to enhance the agricultural value chain for the IMT-GT subregion; 3) Accelerate the signing of the IMT-GT member countries on the Framework of Cooperation between the Government of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand in Customs Immigration and Quarantines Procedures or FoC in CIQ to facilitate the seamless movement of people and product, and to increase the economic potential of the routes along the 6 economic corridors in the IMT-GT subregion; and 4) Develop projects under environmental cooperation in line with the BCG Model through various forms of funding, such as Thai Sustainability Bonds and supporting the project development under the Green Cities Plan, and accelerating the project development under the Sustainable Development Framework (SUDF) investment plan. Furthermore, the three member countries and their main development partners, which are the ASEAN Secretariat and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), also discussed significant cooperation issues, such as green development and the blue economy for sustainability, applying digital technology to enhance sub-regional development, and building cooperation in IMT-GT potential industries, such as halal, rubber, and tourism (Source: The Office of the National Economic and Social Development, 2023). Recently, IMT-GT held a leadership seminar on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) cooperation on July 12–13, 2023, at the Borobudur Hotel, Jakarta, Indonesia. In this regard, the IMT-GT has invited Mr. Supadetch Ongsakul, Deputy Secretary General of the Thai Rubber Association (TRA), to join in exchanging information on the development of rubber cities, as well as proposing useful guidelines and developing cooperation among the IMT-GT group.

In conclusion, the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) sub-regional economic cooperation has great importance. In order to protect the benefits of rubber farmers, entrepreneurs and all relevant parties, the Thai Rubber Association (TRA) hopes that strong cooperation under the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) will provide holistic strategic benefits to Thailand.

Mr. Chaiyos Sincharoenkul

President

The Thai Rubber Association