NEW DELHI: Overcoming their lukewarm enthusiasm for Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)—the sub-regional grouping of countries around the Bay of Bengal—the member countries have lined up a slew of activities in 2017 to increase visibility of the grouping that has emerged as an alternative to SAARC.
The year 2016 has been a turning point for BIMSTEC that will complete 20 years of its existence. Comprising of Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and Sri Lanka, the BIMSTEC has 14 priority areas that include transport and communication, tourism, environment and disaster management, climate change, fisheries, agriculture, public health, poverty alleviation, culture and counterterrorism and transnational crime etc.
“Nepal has offered to host the 15th BIMSTEC ministerial meeting in June and the fourth BIMSTEC Summit towards the end of 2017.
There will be activities in the capital cities of the member countries to increase visibility of the grouping,” MEA officials said. Organising programmes/presentation/seminars with the universities and other higher institutes of the member states, publication of a commemorative book on BIMSTEC and organisation of BIMSTEC Trade Fair are on the agenda.
Buddhism has been the common thread between the member countries and they have decided to release commemorative postal stamps depicting BIMSTEC heritage sites and promoting BIMSTEC Buddhist circuit and tourism, said officials.
Giving BIMSTEC a more focused approach, the member have agreed to form expert working groups on trade agreement, cooperation on countering radicalisation and terrorism, coastal shipping agreement, disaster management and marine-based economic development.
BIMSTEC is home 1.6 billion people and the intra-BIMSTEC trade is $ 74.63 billion in 2013 and has the potential to go up to $ 60 billion provided the connectivity has been put in place.