high incidence of poverty in the sub-region.there does not seem to be a clearly defined overall strategy for poverty reduction to complement and/or supplement the national poverty reduction strategies. Sustained high economic growth will be needed in order for BIMP-EAGA to reduce poverty and narrow the development gaps.But policies for sustained strong growth will have to be complemented by targeted by targeted interventions and will require increased investments in basic infrastructure as well as in healthcare and education. to facilitate progress in reducing intra-regional and inequalities consideration would have to given to extending the national MDG targets to the BIMP-EAGA focal areas. New initiatives such as the community-based ecotourism development programme are a step in the right direction.Similar programmes with a pro-poor slant be identified and implemened in the sub-region.