BIMSTEC NATIONS IDENTIFY SPHERES OF CO-OPERATION
Bay
of Bengal Initiative For Multi -SECTORAL Technical & Economic Cooperation is
dedicated to create an enabling environment for rapid economic development through
identification and implementation of specific cooperation in various sectors.
These are trade, investment, industry,
technology, human resource development, tourism, agriculture, energy,
infrastructure and transportation, transport
and communication, agriculture, fisheries, counter terrorism and transnational
crime, environment and disaster management, climate change, public health,
poverty alleviation, culture and people-to-people contact. The main objective of the BIMSTEC was detailed
by M Shadul Islam, Secretary General of the Dhaka
headquartered organization at Kolkata Colloquium held on 28 and 29 November. BIMSTEC comprises Bangladesh, India, Myanmar,
Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan. Fourteen priority sectors of cooperation
have been identified and several BIMSTEC centers have been established to focus
on those sectors. The
initial emphasis on project-based cooperation has been shifted to a rule- and institution-based
cooperation format. A number of agreements and MOUs were initiated to provide
legal framework for cooperation, the most notable one being the Framework
Agreement on BIMSTEC Free Trade Area in 2004 providing negotiating specific agreements to eliminate
tariffs and non-tariff barriers, liberalize trade in services, establish an
open and competitive investment regime, and establish effective trade and
investment facilitating measures, including simplification of customs procedures,
facilitation of visa for businessmen and development of mutual recognition
arrangements. In 2014, BIMSTEC established its permanent secretariat in Dhaka which gave a formal structure to
this regional forum, he said. BIMSTEC received new impetus when BIMSTEC Leaders
were invited to a Leaders’ Retreat organized alongside BRICS Summit held in Goa
in October 2016. At the Goa Retreat, the
Leaders reiterated their strong political commitment to make the organization
stronger, more effective and result-oriented, and recommended a 17-point Agenda
of Action. Since then, BIMSTEC began to hold meetings more regularly and
resumed negotiations to conclude pending agreements including BIMSTEC FTA. Riding
on the new momentum, the 4th BIMSTEC Summit held in Kathmandu in
2018 took a number of important decisions to rationalize and consolidate
BIMSTEC’s operational modalities and institutional structure. The Summit decided
to draft BIMSTEC Charter, establish a BIMSTEC Development Fund, and review and
rationalize the 14 sectors of cooperation to bring focus in BIMSTEC’s work. The topics selected for the Colloquium –
connectivity, trade, climate change and disaster management, cultural linkages –
were some of the most relevant areas of BIMSTEC cooperation. Two sessions had been
devoted to media, because the role of media will be crucial in both reimagining
and reimaging BIMSTEC.The first area to
receive renewed attention of Member States is the economic dimension of
cooperation, which is the raison d’etre of BIMSTEC. The success of other regional organizations
like EU and ASEAN are often measured by the role they have played in promoting intra-regional
trade and investment. BIMSTEC with more
than 1.6 billion people and a combined GDP of over 3 trillion US dollars is one
of the fastest growing regions in the world. But
these countries do 94% of their international trade with non-members of
BIMSTEC, and the remaining 6% trade take place within themselves, compared to
24% for ASEAN and 64% for EU. The BIMSTEC Trade Negotiating Committee has held
21 rounds of negotiations to finalize the text of the Agreement on Trade in
Goods but to no avail. BIMSTEC needs to conclude the long awaited BIMSTEC Free
Trade Area without further delay, because that will constitute the crucial
first step towards economic integration of the region. In addition, trade
facilitation measures such as simplification of customs procedures, business
visa facilitation and mutual recognition arrangements should be put in place. BIMSTEC
region is one of the least connected regions in the world. The importance of connectivity was aptly captured by the Prime
Minister of India, in his speech at the Fourth BIMSTEC Summit, and I quote,
“I believe that the biggest opportunity is connectivity – trade connectivity,
economic connectivity, transport connectivity, digital connectivity, [and]
people-to-people connectivity.” Unquote. BIMSTEC must
leverage on its unique geographical location to act as the bridge between South
and Southeast Asia by strengthening physical,
economic and people-to-people connectivity. The Hon’ble Prime Minister Thailand
in the Fourth BIMSTEC Summit stated that BIMSTEC should aim for a road network
to transport people, goods and services as well as harmonization of rules and
regulations to accommodate seamless movement from India to the east coast of Vietnam
in the shortest possible time. The ADB-assisted study titled “BIMSTEC Transport
Connectivity Master Plan” and the proposed BIMSTEC
Motor Vehicle Agreement[1] will greatly help
in realizing this vision.
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