ACCCIS among lead partners in newly-formed Borneo Economic Community

Chai (left) receives a certificate of appreciation from Asean Business Advisory Council chairman Arsjad Rasjid, who is also Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman, during the BEC roundtable in Jakarta.

KUCHING (Sept 15): The Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sarawak (ACCCIS) has signed a Statement of Cooperation (SOC) for the formation of the Borneo Economic Community (BEC) as one of the lead partners.

Secretary-general Dato Jonathan Chai represented ACCCIS at the signing of the SOC, held in conjunction with the Borneo Business Roundtable 2023 in Jakarta, Indonesia last week.

The Borneo Business Roundtable brought together the relevant stakeholders in Borneo to discuss how to grow intra Borneo trade and attract foreign direct investments in the region.

The discussions also featured a presentation on Nusantara, Indonesia’s new capital city, and an introduction of the digital environment known as Dagang Borneo, said ACCCIS in a statement yesterday.

According to ACCCIS, Dagang Borneo is a collaborative digital marketplace platform for businesses, investors, digital talents and governments of Borneo to promote seamless cross border and circular economy transactions, while focusing on sustainable development for the island as the green economy hub of Asean.

Following the discussion, the BEC a shared legacy programme and focus group between Borneo’s territories was formed. BEC will play a pivotal role in promoting Asean centrality and Asean digital community at the sub-regional level.

The event in Jakarta marked the second round table conference for this year, following the inaugural roundtable in Brunei in April.

During the roundtable session, Chai congratulated the organisers for getting all the relevant stakeholders to sign the SOC and form the BEC.

He hoped that the newly-formed organisation would be action-oriented and outcome-based.

Chai also expressed hope that the BEC could help resolve the long-outstanding problem of the closure of the border checkpoint between Entikong and Tebedu, in order to further expand bilateral trade between the two territories.