6th Bimstec Summit tomorrow; Bangladesh to assume chairmanship for next 2 years

Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus will attend the 6th Bimstec Summit on Friday, where Bangladesh will assume the chairmanship of the grouping for the next two years.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) comprises seven countries of the Bay of Bengal region - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The chairmanship of Bimstec, which has emerged as a "significant forum" for promoting regional development, connectivity and economic progress in the Bay of Bengal region, rotates according to the alphabetical order of the English names of the Member States, officials said.

The changeover of chairmanship takes place during the Summit whereby the member state chairing BIMSTEC hosts the Summit and hands over the chairmanship to the member state next in alphabetical order.

The theme of the 6th summit, being held three years after the 5th summit (Virtual, Colombo, 30 March 2022), is "Prosperous, Resilient, and Open BIMSTEC".

At the beginning of the 6th Bimstec Summit, leaders will take a group photo which will be followed by a welcome address by the Bimstec chair, Prime Minister of Thailand. One-minute silence will be observed for the recent earthquake victims.

After the adoption of the agenda, leaders of the Bimstec will make their statements.

After handing over Bimstec chairmanship, the new chairman of Bimstec will make his remarks while the Thai prime minister will make closing remarks, an official told UNB.

The summit, which aims at fostering collaboration among the member states to address the shared security and developmental challenges, will provide a new impetus to the efforts underway to realise the goal of a prosperous, resilient and open BIMSTEC, according to the BIMSTEC Secretariat.

Foreign Secretary Md Jashim Uddin said the summit will further "strengthen and deepen" the relationship between Bangladesh and other BIMSTEC member states and will play an important role in advancing regional peace and development.

"It goes without saying that this 6th BIMSTEC Summit is a new step for the new Bangladesh in the regional arena through BIMSTEC," he said, hoping that the 6th Bimstec Summit will be successful.

Summit agenda

The summit, the Bimstec headquarters said, has a rich agenda - adoption of the declaration of 6th BIMSTEC Summit, which will reflect the vision of the leaders as well as their decisions and directives; adoption of the Bangkok Vision 2030.

This is the first vision document which will be adopted by the Leaders. It provides a comprehensive and practical roadmap for future cooperation amongst the Bimstec member States.

Signing of the agreement on Maritime Transport Cooperation aims at expanding maritime transport in Bay of Bengal with a view to enhancing transport of cargo as well as people enabling more trade and travel amongst the member States.

Meanwhile, signing of the Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) between Bimstec and Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), and BIMSTEC and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), are part of agenda which will herald a new era of developmental partnerships between BIMSTEC and these organisations.

Adoption of the Rules of Procedure for the BIMSTEC Mechanisms, which, together with the Charter, lay the foundation of institutional framework for regional cooperation under Bimstec; and adoption of the Report of Eminent Persons Group on the Future Direction of Bimstec are among the agenda.

The group held six meetings in 2024. It consulted the relevant stakeholders and finalised its Report in September 2024 after extensive deliberations.

The report contains a number of recommendations and the member states have commenced steps aimed at implementing the Report.

In a rapidly evolving and uncertain global political and economic situation, the 6th Bimstec Summit will further reinforce the critical role of BIMSTEC, as the only regional organisation in Bay of Bengal, in forging regional cooperation to enable the member States to deal with their shared security and sustainable development challenges.

Since Bimstec's inception in June 1997, five Summits have been held in Bangkok (2004), New Delhi (2008), Nay Pyi Taw (2014), Kathmandu (2018) and Colombo (2022).

It pursues regional cooperation in seven broad sectors: Agriculture & Food Security; Connectivity; Environment & Climate Change; People-to-People Contact; Science, Technology & Innovation; Security; and Trade, Investment & Development.

The cooperation also covers 8 sub-sectors: Blue Economy, Mountain Economy, Energy, Disaster Management, Fisheries & Livestock, Poverty Alleviation, Health, and Human Resource Development.