한-BIMP-EAGA 협력포털

 

 

Choi Yun-jeong (Director of Indo-Pacific Research Center, Sejong Institute)

 

 

On December 28, 2022, the Korean government announced the “Strategy for Free, Peaceful, and Prosperous Indo-Pacific Region”. Korea's Indo-Pacific Strategy (hereinafter referred to as the Indo-Pacific Strategy) presented three cooperation principles of “inclusiveness, trust, and reciprocity” and nine key challenges. The Indo-Pacific Strategy is the first regional strategy proposed by the Korean government under the vision of becoming a global pivotal state. After successfully announcing this regional strategy, the next task for the Korean government is to implement the strategy according to its purpose. 

 

Korea’s Indo-Pacific Strategy includes the ‘Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative (KASI)’ which specifically targets ASEAN. In the past years, Korea has had various institutional frameworks to support its cooperation with the ASEAN countries. It began diplomatic relations with ASEAN in 1989 as a dialogue partner, and upgraded its partnership with the continental ASEAN countries that belong to the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) to a “strategic partnership” in 2020. In 2021, by establishing ties with the BIMP-EAGA1) , which aims to foster development in the underdeveloped regions of the four maritime countries (Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines) located in the east of ASEAN, we have completed a cooperation system at the sub-regional level covering both the continental and maritime ASEAN. Cooperation with ASEAN is at a point where the Korea's Indo-Pacific Strategy can expect the fastest and most concrete result. 

 

Cooperation with ASEAN is also of particular importance as it could serve as a gateway for Korea to expand its cooperation with other partner countries. ASEAN has been identified as a key partner in the Indo-Pacific Strategy announced by the United States, Japan, Australia, India, EU and other European countries, and Korea, and ASEAN centrality is referred to as the principle of regional cooperation. This means that when Korea implements its Indo-Pacific Strategy in ASEAN, cooperation with other partners can also be facilitated. 

 

In particular, it is required to cooperate with BIMP-EAGA, which is expected to grow rapidly, as a model for Korea's partnership with ASEAN and the  implementation of its Indo-Pacific Strategy. BIMP-EAGA occupies 62.4% of the area of the four BIMP countries, but the population stands at 19.3% with the working age population at only 18.5%. However, its contribution to trade is 24.5% of the four BIMP countries. Even during the COVID-19 period, foreign direct investment in this area continued to increase2).  Due to border restrictions, the tourism industry was hit hard that BIMP countries had to rely solely on domestic tourism (99.8%) in 2021. Nonetheless, if the tourism industry recovers in 2023 with the massive influx of foreign tourists, it is expected to gain further momentum for economic growth.

 

 
Moreover, 2023 is the year where Indonesia, the chair country of BIMP-EAGA, becomes the chair of ASEAN. The Indonesian government also resumed the capital relocation project, which was delayed due to the COVID-19. When the capital is moved to Kutai Kartanegara and North Penajam Paser in East Kalimantan on the island of Borneo, which is in the BIMP-EAGA region, the status of BIMP-EAGA will be further enhanced. The governments of Malaysia, the Philippines, and Brunei have also expressed their intention to pay more attention and effort to the development of the region. For Korea, helping the growth of the BIMP-EAGA, which is emerging as the core of ASEAN growth in ASEAN will not only create new production base and markets, but it will help deterring China's influence seeking to advance into the region through various investments. 

 

If this is the case, how can Korea promote cooperation with BIMP-EAGA in the implementation process of its Indo-Pacific Strategy? First, let's approach this from the perspective of the principle of “reciprocity” that realizes the growth potential of the BIMP-EAGA. In Article 21, Paragraph 2 of the ASEAN Charter, ASEAN has laid the foundation for the establishment of a subregional consultative body in which members can discuss specific matters. The BIMP-EAGA, a subregional consultative body faithful to the spirit of the ASEAN Charter, is conducting cooperative projects with its development partners (China, Japan, Australia, and Korea) centered on areas such as connectivity, food basket, tourism, environment, and socio-cultural-education. As it has the flexibility to determine the content, format, and the cooperation with the partner countries, the BIMP-EAGA is a suitable platform to promote mutually reciprocal small multilateral cooperation. Recalling the principle of “reciprocity”, Korea should seek cooperation in areas that can contribute to the realization of the BIMP-EAGA's Vision 2025 among the nine key challenges of the Indo-Pacific Strategy. 

 

 

Table Example of Matching the Korea Indo-Pacific Strategy and the BIMP-EAGA Cooperation Areas

Source: Prepared by the author based on data from the Korea's Indo-Pacific Strategy and BIMP-EAGA Vision 2025

 

 

One area with high potential for cooperation between Korea and the BIMP-EAGA is the promotion of maritime connectivity and maritime security. Connectivity is the priority cooperation agenda in ASEAN, and building physical connectivity is the top agenda of the BIMP-EAGA member countries to exchange with other regions. Particularly about Korea's participation in maritime connectivity projects, the member countries of the BIMP-EAGA have welcomed Korea’s involvement as “Korea is not only a reliable middle power with no hegemonic intentions, but we are also stakeholders in regional maritime security, where Korea's energy and resources must pass through Southeast Asian waters such as the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea.” 

 

This is linked to the “trust” principle that pursues cooperative relationships based on solid mutual trust. This is because maritime connectivity must ultimately be supported by maritime security. Trust between countries is an essential element in security cooperation. As the competition for maritime supremacy between the US and China over maritime communication routes is overheating, the security importance of maritime Southeast Asian countries is also increasing to prevent the possibility of military conflict. At the BIMP-EAGA Summit in 2019, Indonesian President Joko Widodo also requested that BIMP-EAGA take more serious interest in maritime security aspects such as kidnapping and piracy3) . 

 

Korea emphasizes its position as a maritime nation and the value of maritime freedom, peace, and prosperity in the region in its Indo-Pacific Strategy. The BIMP-EAGA does not require Korea to create a new platform to pursue maritime security and prosperity, but it is an effective forum to gradually implement cooperation using the already established platform. It can be an effective starting point for establishing the Indo-Pacific regional order based on norms and rules in terms of maritime security. If Korea takes the BIMP-EAGA as the starting point of Korea-ASEAN maritime cooperation, it will help strengthen Korea's role in the region while enabling Korea to take a tangible step forward in the field of maritime cooperation. 

 

Furthermore, when the cooperation with the BIMP-EAGA gets on the right track, it is important to review ways to develop it into an open cooperation platform that can pursue scalability in terms of regions and organizations. In other words, it is desirable to use minilateral cooperation as a multi-layer cooperation mechanism with Southeast Asia, while seeking organic cooperation with consultative bodies that involves major dialogue partners in the region. By applying open regionalism, trilateral cooperation can be expanded to working with other development partners such as Japan, Australia, China and other maritime-related countries and consultative bodies. As such, in implementing “inclusiveness,” the core principle of the Korea’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, the BIMP-EAGA could serve as an exemplary pilot case.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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1)The Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) was launched in 1994 and has grown steadily into a sub-regional consultative body that currently hosts summit-level meetings. 
2)Foreign direct investment inflow into BIMP-EAGA increased every year from $9.7 billion in 2019, $12.8 billion in 2020, and $13.6 billion in 2021, while domestic investment is stagnant at around $7 billion (BIMP-EAGA at a glance: A Statistical Information Brief 2022).
3)https://news.detik.com/berita/d-4596923/ktt-ke-13-bimp-eaga-jokowi-ingatkan-peningkatan-keamanan-kawasan-maritim