Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation
Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation
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Secretariat | Dhaka, Bangladesh[1] | ||||||||||||
Membership | |||||||||||||
Leaders | |||||||||||||
• Chairmanship |
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Establishment | 6 June 1997 | ||||||||||||
Website bimstec |
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an international organisation of seven nations of South Asia and South East Asia, housing 1.5 billion people and having a combined gross domestic product of $3.5 trillion (2018).[3][4] The BIMSTEC member states—Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand , Nepal and Bhutan [5]—are among the countries dependent on the Bay of Bengal.
Fourteen priority sectors of cooperation have been identified and several BIMSTEC centres have been established to focus on those sectors.[3][6] A BIMSTEC free trade agreement is under negotiation (c. 2018).
Leadership is rotated in alphabetical order of country names. The permanent secretariat is in Dhaka.
Background
On June 6, 1997, a new sub-regional grouping was formed in Bangkok under the name BIST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand Economic Cooperation).[7][8] On 22 December 1997, Myanmar became a full member, resulting in the renaming of the grouping to BIMST-EC. In 1998, Nepal became an observer. In February 2004, Nepal and Bhutan became full members.
On July 31, 2004, in the first Summit the grouping was renamed as BIMSTEC or the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation.[9]
Objective
The 14 main objective of BIMSTEC is technological and economic cooperation among south Asian and southeast Asian countries along the coast of the bay of Bengal. Commerce, Investment, Technology, Tourism, Human Resource Development, Agriculture, Fisheries, Transport and Communication, Textiles, Leather etc. have been included in it.[4] Provide cooperation to one another for the provision of training and research facilities in educational vocational and technical fields. Promote active collaboration and mutual assistance in economic,social ,technical and scientific fields of common interest.It also provides help to increase the socio-economic growth of the member countries.
Permanent Secretariat
BIMSTEC Permanent Secretariat is at Dhaka was opened in 2014 and India provides 33% (65% of region's population) of its expenditure.[3][10]
Chairmanship
BIMSTEC uses the alphabetical order for the Chairmanship. The Chairmanship of BIMSTEC has been taken in rotation commencing with Bangladesh (1997–1999).[11]
Member nations
Countries | Leader Position | Head of government | Head of state | Population
(2016)[12] |
GDP | World Bank | SAARC |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Prime minister | Sheikh Hasina, | Abdul Hamid, President of Bangladesh | 162,951,560 | $285.8 bn | ✔ | ✔ | |
Prime minister | Dasho Tshering Wangchuk, | Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, King of Bhutan | 797,765 | $2.2 bn | ✔ | ✔ | |
Prime minister | Narendra Modi, | Ram Nath Kovind, President of India | 1,324,171,354 | $2308.0 bn | ✔ | ✔ | |
President | Win Myint, President of Myanmar | 52,885,223 | $68.277 bn | ✔ | ✖ | ||
Prime minister | Khadga Prasad Oli, Prime Minister of Nepal | Bidhya Devi Bhandari, President of Nepal | 28,982,771 | $74.020 bn | ✔ | ✔ | |
President | Ranil Wickremesinghe, | Maithripala Sirisena, President of Sri Lanka | 20,798,492 | $80.4 bn | ✔ | ✔ | |
Prime minister | Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of Thailand | King Vajiralongkorn (Rama X), | 68,863,514 | $409.724 bn | ✔ | ✖ |
BIMSTEC priority sectors
14 priority areas have been identified with the lead nations appointed to lead the effort:[3][6][13]
Priority Area | Lead Country | Centre | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Transport and communication | India | ||
Tourism | India | BIMSTEC Tourism Information Centre, Delhi | |
Counterterrorism and transnational crime | India | Four subgroups: Intelligence sharing - Sri Lanka (lead), Terror financing - Thailand, Legal - Myanmar, Law enforcement and narcotics - Myanmar | |
Environment and disaster management | India | BIMSTEC Weather and Climate Centre, NOIDA | |
Energy | Myanmar | BIMSTEC Energy Centre, Bengaluru | BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection MoU signed in 2014.[14][15] |
Public Health | Thailand | BIMSTEC Network of Traditional Medicine in India | |
Agriculture | Myanmar | ||
Trade & Investment | Bangladesh | ||
Technology | Sri Lanka | ||
Fisheries | Thailand | ||
People-to-People Contact | Thailand | ||
Poverty Alleviation | Nepal | ||
Climate Change | Bangladesh | ||
Cultural Cooperation | Bhutan | 1200 ITEC scholarships by India |
BIMSTEC Free Trade Area Framework Agreement
BIMSTEC Free Trade Area Framework Agreement (BFTAFA) has been signed by all member nations to stimulate trade and investment in the parties, and attract outsiders to trade with and invest in BIMSTEC at a higher level. Subsequently, the "Trade Negotiating Committee" (TNC) was set up, with Thailand as the permanent chair, to negotiate in areas of trade in goods and services, investment, economic co-operation, trade facilitations and technical assistance for LDCs. Once negotiation on trade in goods is completed, the TNC would then proceed with negotiation on trade in services and investment.
BIMSTEC Coastal Shipping Agreement draft was discussed on 1 December 2017 at New Delhi, to facilitate coastal shipping within 20 nautical miles of the coastline in the region to boost trade between the member countries. Compared to the deep sea shipping, coastal ship require smaller vessels with lesser draft and involve lower costs. Once the agreement becomes operational after it is ratified, a lot of cargo movement between the member countries can be done through the cost effective, environment friendly and faster coastal shipping routes.
Cooperation with Asian Development Bank (ADB)
ADB become a partner in 2005, to undertake the "BIMSTEC Transport Infrastructure and Logistic Study" (BTILS), which was completed in 2014.[16]
BIMSTEC Summits
No. | Date | Host country | Host city |
---|---|---|---|
1st | 31 July 2004 | Bangkok | |
2nd | 13 November 2008 | New Delhi | |
3rd | 4 March 2014 | Nay Pyi Daw[17] | |
4th | 30, 31 Aug 2018 | Kathmandu[18] | |
5th | TBD | Colombo[2][19] | |
Projects
- Road and rail Look-East connectivity projects
- Coast shipping
- Power grid inter-connection
- Regional disaster monitoring and warning system
Current leaders of BIMSTEC
See also
References
- ↑ "Nepal unlikely to host fourth 'Bimstec' summit this year". Business Standard India. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
- 1 2 "BIMSTEC summit ends with Oli presenting Kathmandu declaration". Retrieved 31 August 2018.
- 1 2 3 4 BIMSTEC: Building bridges between South Asia & Southeast Asia, IndiaWrites, 2014.
- 1 2 BIMSTEC
- ↑ http://www.thedailystar.net/op-ed/economics/regional-economic-integration-the-bay-bengal-660181
- 1 2 "Energy". bimstec.org. Retrieved 2017-12-06.
- ↑ Haidar, Suhasini (15 October 2016). "BIMSTEC a sunny prospect in BRICS summit at Goa". The Hindu. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
- ↑ "BRICS Summit 2016: BIMSTEC members have economic opportunities to share, said Narendra Modi – The Economic Times". The Economic Times. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
- ↑ See for a detailed historical account of the founding and evolution of BIST-EC and BIMST-EC e.g. Michael, Arndt (2013). India's Foreign Policy and Regional Multilateralism (Palgrave Macmillan), pp. 145–163.
- ↑ Area of cooperation
- ↑ "Third BIMSTEC Summit Declaration". Retrieved 12 March 2014.
- ↑ "World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision". ESA.UN.org (custom data acquired via website). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
- ↑ BIMSTC sectors
- ↑ "India Cabinet Approves Signing of BIMSTEC Power Grid Pact | News | South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation". www.sasec.asia. Retrieved 2017-12-06.
- ↑ "Nepal to join BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection". Retrieved 2017-12-06.
- ↑ BIMSTEC Transport Infrastructure and Logistic Study
- ↑ "BIMSTEC Summit". Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
- ↑ "Nepal proposes dates for Bimstec Summit". Business Standard India. 5 June 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- ↑ "4th BIMSTEC Summit: Kathmandu Declaration adopted by Member States". Retrieved 31 August 2018.