Date: November 10-11, 2008
Time: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Venue: JV 2-5 Function Room, 4/F AIM Conference Center Manila, Makati City
Building Bridges across the Ocean: Connectivity, Trade, Transit, and Traffic in Maritime Southeast Asia
As progress (or lack thereof) in archipelagic Southeast Asia takes place in a unique geography of more than 24,000 islands, it is clear that issues relating to connectivity, i.e., the ability to move goods and people, to travel, and to undertake transport, merit special attention in the development agenda.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the AIM Policy Center co-hosted a conference on Building Bridges across the Ocean: Connectivity, Trade, Transit, and Traffic in Maritime Southeast Asia on November 10-11, 2008 at the JV del Rosario Room of the AIM Conference Center in Makati City. Participants including key experts and stakeholders spanning the public, private, academic, and international development sectors from Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore came together to discuss trends, developments, opportunities, and roadblocks relating to connectivity issues in archipelagic Southeast Asia.
The program was organized into five sessions of presentations and open discussions addressing a vast array of connectivity issues in the region:
- The role of trade and transportation in development challenges and connectivity
- The promise of ASEAN Economic Community
- Current status and challenges in sea, air, and ground connectivity, focusing on sea linkages, ports and multi-modal network systems, and air and road transport
- Enhancing connectivity with respect to the policy environment, social and environmental challenges, and regional initiatives
- Addressing infrastructure needs
This activity stems from the ADB’s work on a strategy to encourage development in archipelagic Southeast Asia. It is meant to provide the basis for a monograph that encourages public debate on issues related to connectivity in maritime Southeast Asia and to the set of problems that affect trade, travel, and transit in over 24,000 islands in the region. The monograph is expected to be useful to policy makers in the concerned governments, especially the Philippines and Indonesia.