MOVING past traditional economic metrics and infrastructure blueprints, Vice President Sara Z. Duterte urged leaders to dismantle barriers preventing shared prosperity between Mindanao and Borneo.
Delivering her keynote address at the Davao-Borneo Growth Corridor Forum held in Davao City on Sept. 18, the Vice President framed economic development through the lived realities of ordinary citizens navigating regional borders.
She pointed to a female trader from Sabah who historically moved goods across Malaysia, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga, and Davao, only to see legitimate informal trade forced into smuggling due to security threats and restrictive policies.
She also cited the story of a young Tausug woman from Sulu who learned Bahasa by watching Malaysian television, ultimately forced to leave home to pursue her dream of becoming a video editor.
“Borders divide countries, not economies, cultures, or people,” Duterte stated, emphasizing that true growth requires building an economy that accommodates regional talent without forcing them to leave home.
An economic force
Highlighting the evolution of regional cooperation 32 years after the inception of BIMP-EAGA, Duterte noted that the partnership now encompasses 82.68 million people and generates $1.34 trillion in combined economic output, with $165.96 billion moving through merchandise trade.
“That is no longer a peripheral opportunity. That is an economic force,” she declared. “The question is not whether we can grow together, but it is why we are not moving faster.”
To bridge the gap between potential and reality, Duterte outlined four strategic movements for the forum:
- Transforming historical and cultural ties into everyday cross-border cooperation rather than occasional projects.
- Connecting Mindanao’s strengths in agriculture, tourism, and growing markets with Borneo’s capital, industry, and logistics.
- Moving past physical infrastructure—noting that 265 priority projects worth $174.6 billion are already in motion—to ensure roads and ports actually serve farmers and traders safely crossing the sea.
- Aligning government policies, securing safer maritime routes, formalizing legitimate maritime trade, and establishing cross-border business consortia before 2030.
Duterte challenged stakeholders to envision a future where regional growth translates to local retention of talent—where a farmer in Davao del Norte or a manufacturer in Sarawak can seamlessly reach broader markets while staying home.
“This is what growth should mean to us,” Duterte said. “Not just more cargo, more investments, bigger numbers, but more reasons to stay and more ways for talent to find a market without leaving home… Several communities. One shared future.”
