Economic Corridors
Priority infrastructure projects in BIMP-EAGA are concentrated in two economic corridors, which will link production with supply chains and provide opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Map of BIMP-EAGA Economic Corridors. Source: BIMP-EAGA. 2012. BIMP-EAGA Implementation Blueprint 2012–2016.
The West Borneo Economic Corridor is BIMP-EAGA’s oil and gas corridor as it passes through areas of Brunei Darussalam, West Kalimantan in Indonesia, and Sarawak and Sabah in Malaysia that are major exporters of crude petroleum and natural gas. It has a well-established transport infrastructure and linkages from Pontianak in West Kalimantan to Kuching in Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam. There are existing trade and investment ties within the corridor through traditional border crossing points.
The corridor covers four routes: Pontianak–Kuching, Kuching–Bandar Seri Begawan, Bandar Seri Begawan–Kota Kinabalu, and Muara–Labuan.
The Greater Sulu–Sulawesi Corridor is a maritime corridor that covers North Sulawesi in Indonesia, Sabah in Malaysia, and Mindanao and Palawan in the Philippines. The corridor is mainly determined by the geography of the Sulu-Sulawesi Seas, a highly biodiverse, globally significant biogeographic unit in the heart of the Coral Triangle—the center of the world’s highest concentration of marine biodiversity.
There are strong historical trade links in the corridor, with trade concentrated between North Sulawesi and Mindanao, and between Sabah and Mindanao. The corridor is also the nerve center of barter trade in BIMP-EAGA, particularly in agriculture and aquaculture products. Transport connectivity consists of port-to-port trade flows and shipping services within the Sulu-Sulawesi seas.
The corridor covers four routes: Palawan–Sabah, Zamboanga Peninsula–Sabah (including Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi in the Philippines), Davao (Davao del Sur), and General Santos–North Sulawesi.
BIMP-EAGA is developing a third economic corridor, which will pass through the new capital city of Indonesia. The East Borneo Economic Corridor covers the other four provinces of the Indonesian portion of Borneo: Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, and South Kalimantan. It will connect to Sabah through a new road in Tanjung Selor, the capital of North Kalimantan.