MindaNews / 9 April – A Mindanao delegation is restarting efforts to reconnect, via air and sea routes, the Philippines’ Davao City and Indonesia’s Manado and Bitung in the province of North Sulawesi to boost trade and tourism cooperation between the two areas under the BIMP-EAGA framework.
Romeo Montenegro, assistant secretary at the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), said Thursday that officials from MinDA, Department of Tourism, Department of Trade and Industry, and the Davao region met with North Sulawesi officials headed by Governor Yulius Selvanus to discuss the revival of the direct Davao-Manado and Davao-Bitung air and sea connectivity, respectively.
“This initiative focuses on revitalizing cooperation between Mindanao and North Sulawesi by promoting tourism and trade and creating the necessary demand to restore direct flights between Davao and Manado as well as shipping connectivity with Davao and Bitung,” Montenegro said in a statement.
He added the engagement with North Sulawesi and local stakeholders is essential for building trust, creating demand for connectivity, and fostering joint economic initiatives.
“By linking our tourism, trade, and investment efforts, this mission will help lay the foundation for long-term cooperation between Mindanao and North Sulawesi under BIMP-EAGA,” Montenegro, also the alternate head of the Philippine National Secretariat for BIMP-EAGA, said.
MinDA is the country’s coordinating agency for BIMP-EAGA.
Established in 1994, BIMP-EAGA stands for Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines – East ASEAN Growth Area. The sub-economic grouping seeks to accelerate the growth of trade, investment, and tourism in less developed areas of the participating member countries.
For the Philippines, the entire Mindanao and Palawan in Luzon are the focus areas for BIMP-EAGA.
The Davao-Manado air route was first served in 2007 by Indonesian airline Sriwijaya Air, followed by Wings Air the next year. They stopped servicing the route due to low passenger and cargo volume. In 2014, Sriwijaya Air revived the route with a chartered flight but was not sustained due to the same reason.
The direct flight from Davao to Manado offered a significantly shorter route for travelers, just a little over an hour, compared to the costly and time-consuming Davao-Manila-Jakarta-Manado route.
On the other hand, the Davao-Tahuna sea route, passing through General Santos City, was launched in 2014 also to boost trade and economic ties between the two Mindanao cities and North Sulawesi.
The Mindanao-North Sulawesi sea link takes only two days compared to the Davao-Manila-Jakarta-Manado sea route that takes at least a month to travel.
Areas covered by BIMP-EAGA enjoy air travel tax exemptions or discounts on port and dockage fees, among other customs, immigration, quarantine and security arrangements.
The Mindanao delegation to Manado included local officials from Davao de Oro and Davao Oriental, led by Governor Raul Mabanglo, Rep. Maricar Zamora-Mabanglo, and Mayors Benjie Bulaong and Juanito Inojales of Tarragona and Governor Generoso of Davao Oriental, Mati City Councilors Edmundo Z. Pang, Jr., Xander Paul B. Alcantara, and Jerome Cayacay Dayanghirang, and Board Member Rotchie Ravelo, and DTI-XI regional director Tanya Rabat-Tan.
During the meeting with North Sulawesi officials, Governor Mabanglo emphasized the mission’s strategic role for Mindanao.
He noted that this trip is part of the next phase of collaboration among Davao Oriental, Davao de Oro, and Davao Occidental, which is planning to form a growth triangle to position the region as the gateway for BIMP-EAGA in North Sulawesi province. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
