Bimstec - Bay Of Bengal Initiative For Multi-sectoral Technical And Economic Cooperation


 
Seven countries in South and Southeast Asia, with a combined population of 1.73 billion and a GDP of US$4.4 trillion (2022), make up the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). Among the nations reliant on the Bay of Bengal are the BIMSTEC member states of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Burma, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
To concentrate on those 14 key sectors of collaboration, various BIMSTEC centres have been formed. Negotiations for a BIMSTEC free trade agreement, comparable to SAARC are under consideration.
The order of the names of the nations is used to rotate the leadership. Bangladesh's capital Dhaka is home to the permanent secretariat.

BACKGROUND

BIST-EC, a new sub-regional organization, was established in Bangkok on June 6th, 1997. (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand Economic Cooperation). The Group was renamed "BIMST-EC" after Myanmar was included on December 22, 1997, during a special Ministerial Conference in Bangkok (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation). Nepal was admitted as an observer in 1998. Nepal and Bhutan were admitted as full members in February 2004. The grouping was renamed the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technological and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) on July 31, 2004, during the first Summit.
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OBJECTIVE

Around the Bay of Bengal coast, South Asian and Southeast Asian nations collaborate in 14 important areas of technology and economic cooperation:
1.    Trade & Investment
2.    Transport & Communication
3.    Energy
4.    Tourism
5.    Technology
6.    Fisheries
7.    Agriculture
8.    Public Health
9.    Poverty Alleviation
10.    Counter-Terrorism & Transnational Crime
11.    Environment & Disaster Management
12.    People-to-People Contact
13.    Cultural Cooperation
14.    Climate Change
At the 8th Ministerial Conference in Dhaka in 2005, Sectors 7 to 13 were added, while Sector 14 was added at the 11th Ministerial Meeting in New Delhi in 2008. For each sector, member countries are identified as Lead Countries.
•    Cooperates to provide training and research facilities in the domains of education, employment, and technology
•    Encourage active cooperation and help from one another in areas of common interest in the economy, the social world, technology, and science.
•    Helps the member nations' socioeconomic prosperity by assisting.

PERMANENT SECRETARIAT

2014 saw the opening of the BIMSTEC Permanent Secretariat in Dhaka, with India covering 32% of the costs. Ambassador Tenzin Lekhell of Bhutan is the current Secretary General of the BIMSTEC, and M. Shahidul Islam of Bangladesh served as the organization's previous Secretary General. Sumith Nakandala, a Sri Lankan, was the organization's first secretary general. 

FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT FOR THE BIMSTEC FREE TRADE AREA

  • To promote trade and investment between the parties and entice outsiders to trade and invest more actively with the BIMSTEC countries, all of the member countries have signed the BIMSTEC Free Trade Area Framework Agreement (BFTAFA). To negotiate in the fields of trade in products and services, investment, economic cooperation, trade facilitation, and technical support for LDCs, the "Trade Negotiating Committee" (TNC) was established, with Thailand serving as the permanent chair. Following the completion of the trade-in goods negotiations, the TNC would go on to the trade-in services and investment negotiations.
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  • On December 1, 2017, in New Delhi, the draught of the BIMSTEC Coastal Shipping Agreement was debated to facilitate coastal shipping within 20 nautical miles of the coastline in the region and increase trade between the member nations. When compared to deep-sea shipping, coastal shipping involves less expense and calls for smaller, lighter boats. The cost-efficient, environmentally friendly, and quicker coastal shipping routes will be used for much of the freight traffic between the member nations once the agreement is operational when it is ratified. Two essential elements of the emerging form of BIMSTEC are the interconnectedness of the electrical grid and the coastal shipping ecology.
  • The inaugural BIMSTEC Conclave of Ports conference took place in Visakhapatnam, India, on November 7 and 8, 2019. The major objectives of this summit are to strengthen marine cooperation, port-led connectivity initiatives, and the exchange of best practices among participating nations.
  • The Master Plan for Transport Connectivity, which would serve as a foundation for domestic and regional connections, was announced during the 2022 summit.

COOPERATION WITH ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB)

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) became a partner in 2005, to undertake the "BIMSTEC Transport Infrastructure and Logistic Study" (BTILS), which was completed in 2014.

BIMSTEC SUMMIT

•    No. Date                          Host country      Host city
•    1st   31 July 2004               Thailand          Bangkok
•    2nd  13 November 2008    India               New Delhi
•    3rd   4 March 2014            Myanmar        Naypyidaw
•    4th   30–31 August 2018   Nepal              Kathmandu
•    5th   30 March 2022          Sri Lanka        Colombo (Virtual meeting)

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