On 15th September 2022, the IMT-GT Ministers held the 8th IMT-GT Ministerial Retreat in Phuket, Thailand. The retreat was chaired by His Excellency Mr. Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, Minister of Finance, Kingdom of Thailand, with the presence of His Excellency Dr. Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, Minister of Industry, The Republic of Indonesia and His Excellency Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister in Prime Minister’s Department (Economy), Malaysia. The retreat was also attended by His Excellency Mr. Ahmed M. Saeed, Vice-President for East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific of Asian Development Bank (ADB), Dr. Lim Chze Cheen, Director ASEAN Connectivity Division of the ASEAN Secretariat, Director of CIMT, Mr. Firdaus Dahlan, and IMT-GT National Secretariats (NSs).
During the 8th Ministerial Retreat, several key updates and initiatives were discussed and highlighted, among others; the initiatives to revive the tourism industry in the subregion, endorsement of the IMT-GT Implementation Blueprint (IB) 2022–2026, the plan to launch the IMT-GT Visit Year in conjunction with the 30th Anniversary of IMT-GT in 2023, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the IMT-GT Rubber Cities and Rubber Industry Cooperation, as well as to forge collaboration with India by finalising the Plan of Action (PoA) and execute the early harvest projects and programmes to boost economic development in the subregion.