Subregional Celebes group reaps rewards after 25 years

For most consumers in the southernmost Philippine province of Tawi-Tawi, the East Malaysian state of Sabah is the main source of food and consumer products.

Merchants from both sides have been sailing the Celebes Sea since long before the colonial era and the practice continues to this day.

The age-old trade is one of the factors that inspired leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to establish in 1994 a subregional group that aims to boost growth in some of the most neglected provinces in the region.