Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Introduction

Bay of Bengal Initiative for MultiSectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation(BIMSTEC) is an international organisation involving a group of countries in South Asia andSouth East Asia. The member countries of this group are: Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.

Background
On 6 June 1997, a new sub-regional grouping was formed in Bangkok and given the name BIST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand Economic Cooperation). Myanmar attended the inaugural June Meeting as an observer and joined the organization as a full member at a Special Ministerial Meeting held in Bangkok on 22 December 1997, upon which the name of the grouping was changed to BIMST-EC. Nepal was granted observer status by the second Ministerial Meeting in Dhaka in December 1998. Subsequently, full membership has been granted to Nepal and Bhutan in 2003. In the first Summit on 31 July 2004, leaders of the group agreed that the name of the grouping should be known as BIMSTEC or the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation.

Aims and Purposes According to the Bangkok Declaration on the Establishment of BIST-EC, the aims and purposes of BIST-EC/BIMST-EC are to create an enabling environment for rapid economic development, accelerate social progress in the sub-region, promote active collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of common interest, provide assistance to each other in the form of training and research facilities, cooperate more effectively in joint efforts that are supportive of, and complementary to national development plans of member states, maintain close and beneficial cooperation with existing international and regional organizations, and cooperate in projects that can be dealt with most productively on a sub-regional basis and which make best use of available synergies. BIMSTEC was initiated with the goal to combine the 'Look West' policy of Thailand and ASEAN with the 'Look East' policy of India and South Asia. So it could be explained that BIMSTEC is a link between ASEAN and SARRC. Seven members of BIMSTEC covers 13 Priority Sectors lead by member countries in a voluntary manner namely, Trade & Investment, Technology, Energy, Transport & Communication, Tourism, Fisheries, Agriculture, Cultural Cooperation, Environment and Disaster Management, Public Health, People-to-People Contract, Poverty Alleviation and Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crimes. What make BIMSTEC different from other organization would be that BIMSTEC represent one of the most diverse regions of the world, be it, way of life, religion, language, culture, etc. BIMSTEC clearly separates issues of development into 13 Priority Sectors besides focusing only on economic cooperation which make BIMSTEC covers all aspects regarding the word 'developing'. BIMSTEC provides a unique link between South Asia and Southeast Asia bringing together 1.3 billion people - 21 percent of the world population, a combined GDP of US$750 billion, and a considerable amount of complementarities. A study shows the potential of US$ 43 to 59 billion trade creation under BIMSTEC FTA. Regarding economic aspect, BIMSTEC has Trade Negotiating Committee (BIMTEC TNC). The 16th TNC meeting was held during 17-21 March 2008 in India. TNC Meeting is now working on the List of Goods regarding the Framework Agreement that has been signed in 2004. So far, BIMSTEC has been working on the FTA and looking forward to finalise our agreement soon. Membership Criteria Eligibility: Countries seeking membership should satisfy the conditions of territorial contiguity to, or direct opening into, or primary dependence on the Bay of Bengal for trade and transportation purposes.

BIMSTEC Priority Sectors

BIMSTEC has thirteen priority sectors cover all areas of cooperation. Six priority sectors of cooperation were identified at the 2nd Ministerial Meeting in Dhaka on 19 November 1998. They include the followings: 1. Trade and Investment, led by Bangladesh 2. Transport and Communication, led by India 3. Energy, led by Myanmar 4. Tourism, led by India 5. Technology, led by Sri Lanka 6. Fisheries, led by Thailand

After the 8th Ministerial Meeting in Dhaka on 1819 December 2005, a number of new areas of cooperation emerged. The number of priority sectors of cooperation increased from 6 to 13. The 7 new sectors were discussed in the 1st BIMSTEC Summit and there has been various activities to enhance those co-operations ever since. The sectors are as follows, 7. Agriculture, led by Myanmar 8. Public Health, led by Thailand 9. Poverty Alleviation, led by Nepal 10. Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime, led by India 11. Environment and Natural Disaster Management, led by India 12. Culture, led by Bhutan 13. People to People contact, led by Thailand.

Chairmanship
BIMSTEC uses the alphabetical order for the Chairmanship. The Chairmanship of BIMSTEC has been taken in rotation commencing with Bangladesh (19971999), India (2000) Myanmar (20012002), Sri Lanka (20022003), Thailand (2003 2005), Bangladesh (20052006). Bhutan asked for the skip. So it's turned to India (2006 2009). In November 2009, Myanmar hosted the 12th Ministerial Meeting and assumed BIMSTEC Chairmanship.

BIMSTEC Centre
At the Sixth BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting on 8 February 2004 in Phuket, Ministers endorsed the setting up of a Technical Support Facility (TSF). As reflected in the Ministerial Joint Statement, this Technical Support Facility would serve the BIMSTEC Working Group (BWG) and to coordinate BIMSTEC activities, including those of the BIMSTEC Chamber of Commerce, for a trial period of two years. The decision by the Ministers was based upon the recommendation proposed by BIMSTEC Senior Officials who met in Bangkok during 17 19 September 2003. On this particular item, the SOM had with them a draft report prepared by Mr. David Oldfield, an ESCAP consultant, on Towards Setting up a BIMSTEC Technical Support Facility and Permanent Secretariat: Considerations and Options. The report recommended that a TSF should be set up in Bangkok and would initially serve just the BWG during the trial period of 2 years. Since the Establishment of the Permanent Secretariat is awaited to consider in the 2nd Summit, which will be held on 12 13 November 2008 in India, Thailand had already extended the contract of the BIMSTEC Centre for another year from June 2007 - May 2008. So far, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand had recently extended the contract for another year from 1 June 2008 31 May 2009.