The Prime Minister, Tshering Tobgay, and his delegation left for Myanmar today to attend the Third Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit.
The BIMSTEC summit will start tomorrow.
The Summit will be preceded by the 14th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting and the 16th Senior Officials Meeting. It is usually held every two years and attended by the seven BIMSTEC countries which are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Myanmar is the current Chair of BIMSTEC.
They will review the progress achieved in the fourteen areas of cooperation pertaining to Trade and Investment, Communication, Agriculture, Poverty Alleviation and Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crimes.
One of the main outcomes of the Summit and a historic milestone for the Organization will be the signing of the Memorandum of Association on the Establishment of the BIMSTEC Permanent Secretariat and the appointment of the first Secretary General. This is expected to facilitate and add impetus to the work of the organization.
The BIMSTEC Permanent Secretariat is to be established at Dhaka, Bangladesh. Ambassador Sunit Nakandala from Sri Lanka is the Secretary General-designate.
The other documents expected to be signed at the Summit is Memorandum of understanding on the Establishment of the BIMSTEC Cultural Industries Observatory (BCIO) and the BIMSTEC Cultural Industries Commission (BCIC) in Paro, Bhutan.
During the Summit the Prime Minister will hold bilateral talks with the leaders of other BIMSTEC member states to discuss bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest. He will also meet with the President and other leaders of the Government of the Union of Myanmar.
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation was formed on 6 June 1997 to enhance economic cooperation between the countries of Southeast Asia and South Asia around the Bay of Bengal. It is a regional grouping that encompasses about 1.3 billion people and a GDP of 750 billion USD.
Bhutan became a member of BIMSTEC in2004.
