IMT-GT Project Profiles

See Complete List of IMT-GT Project Profiles

Roadmap Action Plan

The IMT-GT Strategic Thrusts are translated into an Action Plan in the form of a development matrix, aimed at guiding the detailed programming and implementation of specific IMT-GT programmes.

+ Updated WG Action Plan Matrices

WGIT	WGAAE
WGTI	WGT
WGHRD	WGHAPAS

Roadmap Midterm Review 2009

The Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the IMT-GT Roadmap in 2009 will provide the platform for taking stock of recent developments and their implications on the Programme's strategic thrusts, and the issues and challenges that need to be met to accelerate programme and project implementation. It will also provide an opportunity to look at IMT-GT within the larger context of the ASEAN Economic Community envisaged for 2015. The output of the MTR process is an updated IMT-GT Roadmap that will guide the program for the period 2009-2011 to ensure that the medium-term goals are met.

+ Objectives of the MTR

The objectives of the MTR are the following:

1. Take stock of accomplishments and progress made in the implementation of the IMT-GT Roadmap and to assess their impact on the overall objectives of IMT-GT;
2. Identify implementation issues and constraints;
3. Review the strategic thrusts of the Roadmap in the context of recent regional and global developments and to recommend adjustments as needed;
4. Review and recommend programme and project priorities for the second-half of the five-year period 2007-2011;
5. Initiate the process of developing and implementing a results-based monitoring and evaluation framework, which will include lessons learned, as a means to enhance future implementation; and
6. Identify the areas where IMT-GT programmes and projects can contribute to the goal of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and seek the appropriate mechanisms to link these IMT- GT activities with the broader ASEAN framework.

+ The MTR Steering Committee

An MTR Steering Committee will guide the MTR process. The Committee will be composed one senior official (SO) each from the three countries, one representative from ADB and one representative from CIMT, for a total of five members. The Steering Committee will serve as the oversight body to guide the MTR consultants in the course of their work. The senior officials in the Steering Committee could be the IMT-GT SO or their designates (since the SO may not have the time to supervise continuously and direct the work of the MTR team).

ADB will finance the MTR consultants who will work closely with the IMT-GT stakeholders in the public and private sectors as well as with the CIMT.

+ The MTR Process

The MTR will involve a highly participatory process among various IMT-GT stakeholders. There will be several stages involved in the process, namely: (i) stock-taking of progress made in the program and project implementation; (ii) country consultations; (iii) MTR dialogue on IMT-GT strategies, programme thrusts and implementation issues and approaches; (iv) programme and project review and prioritization; (v) validation, synthesis, and drafting of the MTR document; and (vi) consideration and endorsement by the SOM and the Ministerial Meetings.

1. Stock-taking of programmes and projects. For the stock-taking exercise, the CIMT will collect information on the status of projects-both those included in the Roadmap, as well as those that have been subsequently proposed and implemented under the different Working Groups. This activity has already been initiated as an input to the 3rd IMT-GT Planning Meeting. The output of this exercise is a comprehensive compilation of all IMT-GT projects-both those included in the Roadmap, and those that are not.
2. Country consultations. The MTR consultants will initiate the process of in-country consultations shortly after the 3rd IMT-GT Planning Meeting to get national perspectives on the strategic thrusts of the Roadmap, priority areas, as well as the facilitators and impediments to implementation. These meetings will primarily involve the line ministries, the national Joint Business Councils (JBCs) and the local government officials. The views and perspectives obtained from the country consultations will inform the process of the MTR dialogue (stage c).
3. The MTR dialogue. The Senior Officials, the JBCs, Chief Ministers and Governors of IMT-GT participating states and provinces, Lead Country Chairs of the Working Groups, and ADB as IMT-GT's Development Partner will participate in a dialogue to discuss IMT-GT accomplishments, lessons learned and challenges encountered during the first two years of implementation, recent developments, broad strategies and sector focus in the remaining two years, as well as on measures and mechanisms to enhance and accelerate the implementation of the Roadmap. The results monitoring and evaluation framework will also be discussed at the MTR dialogue. The MTR dialogue may be broadened to include academics and civil society organizations. The output of this dialogue will be the identification of the strategic thrusts of the Roadmap for the two remaining years, improvements in coordination mechanisms (this can draw from the initial results of the Business Process Review), broad policy and programme measures/approaches needed to accelerate implementation; and a consensus on the results monitoring framework. The results of the MTR dialogue will be reported to the 16th SOM/Ministerial Meeting in October 2009.
4. Programme and project review and prioritization. Guided by the directions from the 16th SOM/MM, the Working Groups will be requested to convene within the months October and November 2009. Assisted by the MTR consultants, the Working Groups will be requested to (i) review the programmes and projects belonging to their respective sectors/areas; during this process, the programmes and projects may be repackaged or combined, expanded or reduced in scope, or withdrawn; (ii) identify programs and projects that could contribute to the AEC; (iii) prioritize projects within their respective sectors; and (iv) complete the project profile template. The results monitoring and evaluation framework will be explained during these meetings. The MTR consultant's team will join these meetings to help synthesize and or "package" programs and projects within a logical framework and forge links with the strategic thrusts.
5. Synthesis, validation and the drafting of the MTR document. The MTR consultants, working closely with the CIMT, will compile the submissions of the Working Groups and (i) check for consistency with the directives of the MTR dialogue process, in particular, the strategic thrusts; and (ii) conduct further discussions with ASEAN Secretariat as/if needed with respect to the modalities of linking IMT-GT projects with those under the AEC. In this critical phase, the MTR consultants will seek closely the guidance of the Steering Committee to build consensus on the draft. The CIMT will circulate the draft for official review by the National Secretariats.
6. Consideration and endorsement of the MTR document. The MTR document will be presented for final review of the SOs and Ministers prior to the 5th Summit in October 2009.

MTR Timelines

Report of the MTR Dialogue, 16-17 July 2009, Bangkok, Thailand

Business Process Review

The IMT-GT structure is at present patterned largely after the public sector-oriented ASEAN set-up, with its multi-tiered and hierarchical formation of Summit, Ministerial, Senior Officials and Working Group meetings. Doubts have been raised as to whether this model is suitable to a private-sector led program such as the IMT-GT. The public-private sector interface-which is critical within the context of the IMT-GT framework-needs to have greater depth and clarity and a much-needed results-orientation.

The Business Process Review (BPR) will be conducted in parallel to the Roadmap Midterm Review.

+ Proposed Scope

• Revisit the IMT-GT conceptual framework;
• Determine what organizational arrangement works best for growth areas where state/local entities and the private sector are the key players;
• Identify areas of complementarity and/or duplication with other regional cooperation programs (e.g. ASEAN);
• Division of labour among federal/central and state/local entities;
• Define the division of labour among central ministries;
• Review the role of the public and private sector entities, and the interface mechanisms between them;
• Define the basic working unit for the programme-permanent sector working groups as they presently exist? Or project-oriented (ad hoc) task forces?;
• Define the role of the CIMT in any new structure;
• Review resource commitments.

+ A Suggested Approach

The Review should be guided by a candid and realistic self-assessment of the unique advantages that IMT-GT cooperation offers; what can and cannot be done; what is useful and what is not; and what resources (financial and human) can participating governments realistically commit to make them realize, individually and collectively, the potential benefits that IMT-GT cooperation can offer.

The Review should be conducted principally as a self-assessment process, implying it has to be driven primarily by the IMT-GT stakeholders themselves. The Review process needs to be carefully planned along the lines of soliciting and building from the ideas of IMT-GT stakeholders, in contrast to the traditional approach where a team of experts come up with prescribed solutions for concurrence by the governments. The Review process will be highly participatory and will seek to build consensus closer to the stakeholders "on the ground" rather than at the top level of the public and private sector bureaucracy. It is hoped that this approach will generate the sense of ownership and motivation required for the IMT-GT to forge ahead towards set goals.

Three eminent persons to be nominated each by Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and assisted by national consultants will facilitate the Review process with ADB support. They will design, manage and organize consultation meetings among stakeholders at various levels of IMT-GT operations, both at the national and regional levels. They will have the important task of guiding the brainstorming sessions, and trying to forge a consensus. They will then put together the consensus generated from a broad-based consultation process into a coherent and systematic business process for IMT-GT.

Connectivity Corridors

The IMT-GT Roadmap identified four economic connectivity corridors (ECCs) as key to support increased trade, investment and tourism through strengthening regional connectivity. These are the (i) Extended Songkhla-Penang-Medan; (ii) Straits of Melaka; (iii) Banda Aceh-Medan-Pekanbaru-Palembang; and (iv) Melaka-Dumai. Development of these economic corridors was declared a Flagship Project of IMT-GT at the 13th Ministerial Meeting in September 2006. Subsequently, a fifth maritime corridor, Ranong-Phuket-Aceh has also been identified by IMT-GT.

Three studies on the ECCs have been completed:

• Expanding Horizons: A Study on the Development of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) Economic Corridors

The study, completed in September 2007, was a preliminary assessment of the opportunities, constraints and challenges to developing the subregion's connectivity and thus strengthening its growth potential.

• Logistics Development Study of the IMT-GT

The study, completed in April 2008, focuses on the identification of logistical costs and constraints on the Economic Connectivity Corridors.

• Maritime Sector Study of IMT-GT

The study, completed in August 2008, presents a mapping of maritime links within IMT, including existing cargo and passenger movements, port capacities, and CIQ constraints.

IMT-GT Trade, Investment, and Tourism Database (ITITD)

The ITITD follows a 2-stage approach with staggered deliverables, (1) a baseline database; and (2) a more definitive customized "IMT-GT" database by the end of the 3rd quarter 2009. Stage 1 consists of (i) the development of database framework; (ii) data gathering and encoding of data; and (iii) uploading of baseline database at the IMT-GT website. Stage 2 includes (i) enhancement, analysis, and design of the customized database format (May-August 2009); (ii) consultation meetings with Governments and end users; and (iii) uploading of new datasets to the website (October 2009).