Fourth BIMSTEC Summit concludes with 18-pt Kathmandu declaration

Regional body to focus on economic cooperation, connectivity

Kathmandu, Aug. 31

 The Fourth BIMSTEC Summit 2018 concluded on Friday with agreements to revitalise business and economic activities, enhance cooperation for development, access and share affordable technologies, explore possibility of establishing appropriate forums for various sub-sectors, and promote intra-regional tourism.

The two-day BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) meet agreed to revitalise the activities of the BIMSTEC Business Forum and BIMSTEC Economic Forum to further strengthen government–private sector cooperation for the promotion of trade and investment.

The Expert Group on BIMSTEC Visa Matters will continue negotiation for the finalisation of the modalities for BIMSTEC Visa Facilitation.

The summit issued 18-point Kathmandu Declaration. 

Similarly, the forum of the regional mechanism agreed to enhance cooperation for the development, access and sharing of affordable technologies – including for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) -- for the promotion of sustainable development across sectors.

The Summit welcomes the efforts of the member states towards the signing of the Memorandum of Association on the Establishment of BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility in Sri Lanka, reads the declaration.

The ‘Towards a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable Bay of Bengal region’-themed regional conference has given high priority to people-to-people contacts.

It has agreed to explore the possibility of establishing appropriate BIMSTEC forums for parliamentarians, universities, academia, research institutes, cultural organisations and media community to expand the scope of people-to-people contacts.

Intra-regional tourism

Likewise, the leaders of the member states – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand - agreed to promote intra- BIMSTEC tourism.

“We agreed to task the relevant authorities to devise strategies, considering the emerging opportunities and building on the past initiatives,” reads the declaration.

They also decided to take concrete measures to facilitate tourism by ensuring the safety and security of tourists and smooth transport connectivity, develop and promote the Buddhist Tourism Circuit, Temple Tourist Circuit, ancient cities trail, eco-tourism and medical tourism.

The Summit has welcomed Nepal’s proposal to host a BIMSTEC tourism conclave in 2020 coinciding with the Visit Nepal Year 2020.

The seven members of the organisation decided to deepen cooperation in agricultural and allied sectors, including crops, livestock and horticulture, farm machinery and harvest management, so as to increase productivity and profitability of agricultural produce in a sustainable manner.

The Summit expressed commitment to eradicate poverty in the region by 2030 in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and called for effective implementation of the BIMSTEC Poverty Plan of Action.

They have recognised that eradication of poverty was the greatest regional challenge in the realisation of development objectives.

MoU on Grid Interconnection signed

Similarly, the countries signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection and expressed their commitment to providing uninterrupted and affordable power supply for the economic development of the region.

The BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection opens the door for power trade in the region.

 “The members instruct the relevant agencies to take concrete measure to initiate harmonisation of technical, planning and operational standards for removing barriers to grid interconnections and ensure early establishment of a BIMSTEC Grid and call for early operationalisation of the BIMSTEC Energy Centre in order to strengthen energy cooperation in the region,” reads the Kathmandu Declaration.

Likewise, the leaders decided to establish a working group to deal with information technology and communication-related matters with a view to providing greater access, more affordable and high-speed internet and mobile communication to the people of the region.

Transport connectivity

They expressed satisfaction on the preparation of the draft BIMSTEC Master Plan on Transport Connectivity and called for its early adoption. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing support to prepare the Master Plan while BIMSTEC Transport Connectivity Working Group is working on the modalities for its implementation.

They underlined the importance of multidimensional connectivity which promotes synergy among connectivity frameworks in the region as a key enabler to economic integration for shared prosperity.

The Summit has reaffirmed the commitment to making the Bay of Bengal region peaceful, prosperous and sustainable by building on common strength through collective efforts.

It has recognised the special needs and circumstances of the least developed and land-locked developing countries in the region and underlined the necessity to provide meaningful support to their development process. There are two landlocked countries – Nepal and Bhutan – in the BIMSTEC region.

The Summit has decided to prepare a draft of the organisation’s charger, which will be built on the 1997 Bangkok Declaration, and define long-term vision and priorities for cooperation, and delineate roles and responsibilities of different layers of institutional structures and decision-making processes.

The Summit also laid special attention to other areas such as investment, counter terrorism and transnational crime, environment and disaster management, climate change, fisheries, cultural cooperation, mountain economy and blue economy.

Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, Chief Advisor of Bhutan Tshering Wangchuk, PM of India Narendra Modi, President of Myanmar Win Myint, PM of Nepal KP Sharma Oli, President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena and PM of Thailand Prayut Chan-o-cha represented their respective countries in the Summit.

Translating promise into action a key challenge: PM Oli

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said that the Summit was a significant step towards making BIMSTEC a dynamic, effective and result-oriented regional organisation.

“In the world that is witnessing multiple contradictions and uncertainties, our resolve to strengthen regionalism as a building block to multilateralism bears a particular significance towards a stable, predictable and rule-based world order,” said PM Oli while delivering his closing remarks on the final day of the Summit.

According to him, the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of the BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection will facilitate greater cooperation in the energy sector. 

However, he said that the fruits of regional cooperation could reach the people when the member states fully implemented the decisions and understandings they made.

“Translating the promises into action will be a key challenge ahead,” he said.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 1 September 2018.