In commemoration of the 20th year of the BIMP EAGA or Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area, and in celebration of the second Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand Growth Triangle or IMT-GT Trade Fair, Davao City is honored to hold the largest expo and business conference at the SMX Convention Center. Slated from October 20-24, the week-long international event is themed “Realizing the Opportunities of ASEAN Integration”.

The ASEAN Integration is a grand plan by the ten member states to pursue the acceleration of regional integration by strengthening of economic growth, social progress, cultural collaboration, regional peace and collaboration, and partnership with the international community. The ASEAN Leaders met in 2007 and have agreed for year 2015 to be the target date for the ASEAN Integration to be fully realized. The ASEAN Community then is on the fast track working on the ASEAN Integration’s three pillars, namely, the ASEAN Political-Security Community, the ASEAN Economic Community, and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, to address emerging and pressing cross-border challenges that affect regional and international arenas.

Earlier this year, Philippine incumbent President Ninoy Aquino Jr. expressed his support to underscore physical and social connectivity, in lieu of the ASEAN Integration. Simultaneous to the establishment of efficient transport routes which translates to improved economic performance of the country, the President is also keen on improving the country’s information and technology connectivity.

The 6th NICP Summit, an important side-event to the BIMP-EAGA and IMT-GT Trade Fair and Business Conference, will highly complement the objectives of the theme of the this international event. Slated on the 24th of October 2014, the summit will usher more opportunities for local key players to establish linkages with its ICT counterparts from the BIMP-EAGA member countries. The event will also hold as an excellent platform for participants to share best practices as well as get updated with current industry trends. More importantly, it is an ideal venue to explore and ink deals on potential investments as well as project collaborations (view program here).

Davao City was the host city when BIMP EAGA was launched in 1994.