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Border Economic Area briefing and video production of border area progress since 2016 study. The driver is the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER). It is overseen by the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA), which sets the strategy for a balanced and sustainable development of agriculture, manufacturing and services in the border region. NCER contains the Kulim Hi-Tech Park, which is the first high-technology industrial park in the country. Other industrial areas along the border are Kedah Science and Technology Park, Bukit Kayu Hitam Special Border Economic Zone, and Kedah Rubber City. Elsewhere, tourism is increasing in importance, particularly on the island of Langkawi.

The project updates a scoping study that was carried out by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 2014 on the development of a border economic area between Malaysia and Thailand. Following that report, the two governments decided to initially focus on the border economic area (BEA) in the Malaysian state of Kadah and the Thai province of Songkhla since it handles the largest volume of cross-border movement of goods and people. The present report updates development since 2014 in that area.