About
- BIMSTEC : Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation
- Members : Countries in littoral and adjacent areas of Bay of Bengal
- 7 members
- Bangladesh
- Bhutan
- India
- Nepal
- Sri Lanka
- Myanmar
- Thailand
- BIMSTEC connects
- 5 South Asian nations with 2 Southeast Asian nations
- areas of Himalayas to Bay of Bengal
Short History
- 1997
- Bangkok Declaration estabished BIMSTEC
- Initially
- 4 members
- BIST-EC
- Bangladesh
- India
- Sri-Lanka
- Thailand Economic Cooperation)
- 1997
- BIMSTEC renamed to ‘BIMST-EC’ as Myanmar joined
- 2004
- Nepal , Bhutan joined
- name changed to ‘Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation’ (BIMSTEC)
Goals
- Rapid economic development of the regions.
- Establish quality and partnership.
- Collaboration and assistance in areas of common interests
- Collaboration and support partners in areas of education, science, and technology
7 Principles
- Sovereign Equality
- Territorial Integrity
- Political Independence
- Non-interference in Internal Affairs
- Peaceful Co-existence
- Mutual Benefit
- To not be a substitute for bilateral, regional or multilateral cooperation
Scope & Future Potential
- The organization has potential for intra-regional cooperation between SAARC and ASEAN
- It represents 1.5 billion people, which is 22% of global population
- Its combined GDP is around 2.7 trillion
- Bay of Bengal witnesses one fourth of annual Word Trade
- Joint connnectivity Projects:
- Kaladan Multimodal Project –India and Myanmar
- Asian Trilateral Highway – India and Thailand through Myanmar
- Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Agreement – seamless flow of passenger and cargo traffic
India & BIMSTEC
- The body helps India to pursue 3 core policies:
- Neighborhood First
- Act East
- Economic development of India’s northeastern states – by linking to BOB via Bangladesh , Myanmar
- It acts a potential counter to China’s influence in the region
- Platform to engage neighbors especially when SAARC is not working as smoothly as desired
Principle areas of Cooperation
- Trade and Investment
- Technology
- Energy
- Transportation and Communication
- Tourism
- Fisheries
- Agriculture
- Cultural Cooperation
- Environment and Disaster Management
- Public Health
- People-to-People Contact
- Poverty Alleviation
- Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime
- Climate Change
Important Bodies & Mechnaisms
- BIMSTEC Summit
- highest policymaking body
- meets every two year
- heads of governments participate
- Ministerial Meeting
- second apex policy-making forum
- meets every year
- Foreign Ministers of governments participate
- Senior Officials’ Meeting
- Senior Officials of Foreign Ministries of respective governments participate
- BIMSTEC Working Group
- Ambassadors of Member Countries to Bangladesh or representatives participate
- Meets on a monthly basis
- Office – BIMSTEC Secretariat at Dhaka
- Business Forum & Economic Forum
- The Forum engages private sector participation
Challenges for BIMSTEC
- Irregular Summits
- Low priority among member states
- Too many focus areas:
- Bilateral disputes and Issues between Members:
- Bangladesh – refugee crisis – Rohingyas from Myanmar
- Border conflict b/w Myanmar and Thailand
- No Free Trade Agreement
Way Forward
- Member states need to build on the regional synergies
- BIMSTEC region has a rich history of maritime commerce, this common history should be underlined for enhanced cooperation
- Resource cooperation including resources like electricity connectivity can help boost ccoperation
- Regular annual summits should be held
- The group should have a collective vision for major issues like climate change, security and maritime security
- A free trade agreement can be worked upon
Sumit is Creator and Author at learncrisp.com. He started this learning platform with a mission to emerge as an aspirants resource hub, especially for those preparing in self study mode. He loves writing and his interests are History, Security and Diplomacy.