The Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) sub-regional economic cooperation was initiative formed in 1993 by the governments of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. The goal of IMT-GT is to push the private sector of the member states to be leaders of trading and investment leading to economic growth and to support regional economic development by exploiting their economic advantages due to the similarity in geography, environment, religion, culture, tradition, and language. The member states’ governments agreed to promote the private sector role to build economic growth. The governments will provide the environment, infrastructure that facilitates economic development and drive IMT-GT to be a part of the economic development plan. The member states have scoped the cooperation in 6 aspects including (1) Infrastructure Development or Land bridge, (2) Trade and In-situ Development, (3) Open Market Operations, (4) Sectoral Development as in Tourism Development, (5) Cross-Sectoral such as Human Resource Development, and (6) Development of the Hinterlands and Intra-Trade (Source: IMT-GT Studies Center Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand, Prince of Songkla University).

In terms of economy and trade, Indonesia and Malaysia are Thailand's important trading partners in ASEAN. In 2019, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia are the top 3 of Thailand’s important trading partners in ASEAN, respectively. The total trade value between Thailand and Malaysia was 23,126.31 million USD. Thailand’s trade deficit with Malaysia was 2,407.17 million USD. Meanwhile, the total trade value between Thailand and Indonesia was 16,325.99 million USD. Thailand’s trade surplus with Indonesia was 1,884.37 million USD (Source: The Information and Communication Technology Center, Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Commerce and Thai Customs)

IMT-GT continuously conducts its meeting activities. The last meeting was the 6th IMT-GT VDO Conference titled ‘Managing the impact of Covid-19 on IMT-GT Agriculture and Agro-based Industry’ on July 29, 2020, with 55 participants from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. In this regard, Mr. Supadetch Ongsakul, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Thai Rubber Association was honored to be a speaker in the discussion about the lessen measures for Covid-19 impacts in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Moreover, it included finding useful solutions and improving the IMT-GT cooperation after the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the last IMT-GT meeting, it can be inferred in the important issues as follow; 1) Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand have financial measures, which cut or reduce the tariff to help people who suffer from Covid-19 impacts; 2) Nowadays, the global economy is in the recession because the world's debt is at the highest level in history. Furthermore, the lockdown measure together with the prolonged U.S-China trade war makes the economy of the EU, China, and the U.S. shrink. Moreover, China's economic contraction will lead to more investment moves to AEC countries, and more investment within countries in IMT-GT by reducing dependence on foreign investment (China, Japan, America, and Europe); 3) The agricultural business such as oil palm and rubber are the important base of the economy in IMT-GT countries. Oil palm and rubber face low price problems, especially rubber. However, the agriculture sector still holistically helps Thailand’s economy, compared with the tourism industry and SME, which causes unemployment problems; 4) IMT-GT has a new Rising Star in the industry, which is medical latex gloves. Thailand and Malaysia are the world's important producers of medical latex gloves to reach the increasing of the world’s demand because of the Covid-19 pandemic and other pandemics, which might be occurred in the future; 5) Logistics management is very important. The lockdown condition cause product shortages. Therefore, the government should develop the Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) to build confidence in shipping for the buyers.

In conclusion, The Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) sub-regional economic cooperation has great importance, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. IMT-GT should have the appropriate and clear proceeding plans to protect the benefits of rubber farmers and entrepreneurs. The Thai Rubber Association hopes that strong cooperation under the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) will provide holistic strategic benefits to Thailand.