CITY.....View
of the Balikpapan city from Gunung Dupp.
By : OLIVER MAJAHAM
The East ASEAN Growth Area
(EAGA ) comprises Brunei Darussalam, the 14 provinces of the Indonesia islands
of Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua, Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan in
Malaysia and the islands of Mindanao and Palawan in the Philippine.
Together they cover 1.6
million square kilometres (160,000,000 hectares) with a total population of
57.5 million people. As such the BIMP-EAGA region offers vast potential in
terms of investment, business, trade, and tourism.
Sabah and Sarawak are both
strategically located to interact forcefully with the dynamic and rapidly
growing North East Asian Economies.
And MASwings is poised to
play a central role to connect countries in this region. It will soon introduce
direct flights between Kota Kinabalu and
Balikpapan and between Kuching and Balikpapan in its flight schedule.
The direct link between Kota
Kinabalu, Kuching and Kalimantan and the Philippines will offer exciting
commercial and tourism possibilities.
BARU......A
new township called Balikpapan Baru.
Balikpapan, which is located
on the east coast of the island of Borneo in Kalimantan Timur (Kaltim for
short), is the gateway and the economic hub to Indonesia's richest province of
East Kalimantan.
Because of its proximity to
the Straits of Makassar, this seaport city, the second largest in East
Kalimantan after Samarindah, became the principal regional oil refinery and
transportation centre since the discovery of large oil and gas deposits at the
end of the 19th Century.
Endowed with rich natural resources, its main exports
are oil and gas products, minerals and
timber.
Balikpapan's rapid economic
growth is reflected in the expansion of the city. Dubbed Kalimantan's mini
Metropolis, the city boasts 7 modern shopping malls, 27 (3 stars and above)
hotels and other modern infrastructure.
Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah,
Minister of Industrial DevelopmentThe importance of Balikpapan as an economic
gateway to resource- rich East Kalimantan can be seen when Sabah's Minister of
Industrial Development Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah led a trade delegation for a
2 day (Nov 8-9) visit to Balikpapan in November to explore the possibility of
forging closer business and industrial cooperation between East Kalimantan and
Sabah.
Datuk Raymond Tan said there
are many avenues for industrial joint
ventures and collaboration between Sabah and East Kalimantan, particularly in
the field of oil and gas industry. Hence, he called on industrialists from East
Kalimantan and Balikpapan in particular to seriously consider the investment
prospects in Sabah.
He considered the the
introduction of the upcoming direct flight to Balikpapan via Kota Kinabalu in
Sabah by MASwing as an opportune time to look into such regional cooperation.
According to MASwings' Vice
President (Corporate Services and Communications), Yazid Mohamed, the upcoming
flights to Balikpapan via Kota Kinabalu and Kuching is in response to the need
to bring BIMP-EAGA countries closer together.
"We are the first
airline that has shown determination to connect
BIMP-EAGA towns,' Yazid told a press conference at Tawau airport.
Yazid pointed that the
upcoming flights are intended to connect people among the BIMP-EAGA member
countries.
MASwing is confident there
will be demand for the flight in view of the population size of 700,000 people
in Balikpapan and another 1.2 million people in Samarindah, the capital of
Kaltim, which is located about 3 hours drive from Balikpapan.
The flight to Balikpapan
will be via Kota Kinabalu and Kuching and the flying time is approximately 1
hour 55 minutes.
Currently MASwing provides
flights to 3 BIMP-EAGA destinations, i.e.Brunei, Tarakan and Pontianak via Kota
Kinabalu, Tawau and Kuching.
Yazid said that in spreading
its wings further afield MASwing will not neglect its duties as a provider of
rural air transport in Sabah and Sarawak.
Chairman of BIMP-EAGA
Malaysia Business Council Datuk Roselan Johar MohamedAccording to Chairman of
BIMP-EAGA Malaysia Business Council , Datuk Roselan Johar Mohamed, the
introduction of the direct flight from Kota Kinabalu to Balikpapan is timely
and in line with the government's call to provide better transportation
services within BIMP-EAGA region through air, sea and land.
Roselan added that with
better air connectivity, tourist arrivals from both countries will improve, and
there will also be more trade and investment opportunities between Sabah and
East Kalimantan.
Roselan informed Insight
Sabah that besides oil and gas, palm oil and the timber industry, the other
potential sector that can be explored in Balikpapan and Kaltim are the
furniture, textile, handicraft and natural herbs medicine industries.
As to what Sabah can offer
to the people of Balikpapan and Kalimantan as a whole, Roselan said there
appears to be demand for private healthcare services and private education such
as is offered by international schools and private colleges and universities.
"These are areas we can look into," he said.
In its bid to become an
active regional player in the airline industry, MASwings is also planning to
launch a new route to Puerto Princesa in the Philippines in the first quarter
of 2013, subject to regulatory approval.
The Balikpapan flight via
Kota Kinabalu and Kuching is expected to be launched on 18 January 2013, if the
airline can secure the government green light to proceed. (Insight Sabah)
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