FOCUS IMT-GT

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TRAVEL & SHIPPING in the IMT-GT

DATES & EVENTS in the IMT-GT

What is the IM-GT Joint
Business Council (JBC)

The Implementing Technical
Groups (ITGs) & Committees
of the JBC

Membership of the JBC

Submitting a Project To The
JBC For Endorsement &
Facilitation

Contact the JBC

ABOUT JBC

What is the IMT-GT Joint Business Council (JBC)

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The Joint Business Council (JBC) is the official representative body for the IMT-GT business community. The JBC was created in 1995 with an official mandate from the IMT-GT governments, and over the years it has expanded its role to currently encompass the following:

	a.		To mobilize private sector involvement in exploring the many opportunities in the IMT-GT;
	b.		To coordinate with the IMT-GT governments on issues of mutual concern;
	c.		To act as a channel for business information and exchange of business opportunities in the IMT-GT;
	d.		To identify obstacles for doing business in the IMT-GT and to make recommendations for reducing or eliminating such obstacles to the IMT-GT governments.
	e.		To promote social & educational linkages within the IMT-GT;
	f.		To facilitate people mobility within the IMT-GT;
	g.		To promote networking among the IMT-GT business community;
	h.		To help in resolving cross-border problems faced by the IMT-GT business community;
	i.		To promote the IMT-GT as an attractive investment destination for foreign investors;
	j.		To be actively involved in the reconstruction & rehabilitation efforts of areas within the IMT-GT that had been devastated by the Dec 2004 tsunami tragedy (beginning mid 2005);
	k.		To facilitate the setting-up of IMT-GT Trade Plazas in each state or province encompassed by the IMT-GT (beginning Jan 2006).

The JBC is composed of three national business councils representing the private sectors of IMT-GT member countries. These business councils are respectively known as JBC Indonesia, JBC Malaysia, and JBC Thailand. The national business councils are in turn composed of business people from their respective country.

Click to contact JBC Indonesia, JBC Malaysia, and JBC Thailand.

The JBC meets three or four times a year on a rotation basis between JBC Indonesia, JBC Malaysia, and JBC Thailand. The biggest annual JBC event is the JBC meeting held in conjunction with the annual IMT-GT Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) and Ministerial Meeting (MM). The next SOM and MM have been scheduled for August 2006 in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.

The JBC estimates it has facilitated an estimated US$3.80 billion worth of projects between 1995–2005 in the IMT-GT. The JBC has also been instrumental in guiding government policy in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand in regard to the IMT-GT, especially in the areas of trade & investment, people mobility, education & training, tourism, cultural & sports linkages, agriculture, and fisheries.

Click to see a list of JBC facilitated projects & policy initiatives.

The JBC’s achievements to date include enabling several thousand Indonesian & Thai students to undergo training in Malaysia, getting the border checkpoint hours extended at Bukit Kayu Hitam, boosting the number of operators and the frequency of marine & flight linkages within the IMT-GT, enabling the “fiscal tax” on Indonesian citizens departing the country to be waived for those departing from any Indonesian IMT-GT airport, getting involved in reconstruction & rehabilitation efforts in tsunami-affected regions of the IMT-GT, promoting student & staff exchanges between institutions of higher learning in the IMT-GT region, boosting trade & investment & tourism, and many others.