Kathmandu, Mar. 9
Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (MoFA) Bharat Raj Paudyal has called for meaningful regional
cooperation to deal with the defining challenges of our time such as, climate
change, energy crisis, food insecurity, and the large-scale pandemics.
He pointed out to the need for
regional cooperation on critical development and climate issues while
addressing the 19th Ministerial Meeting of the Bay of Bengal
Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) which
was held virtually in Bangkok, Thailand, on Thursday.
Paudyal is leading Nepali delegation
to the meeting.
Recalling the fourth BIMSTEC Summit
held in Kathmandu in 2018, which aptly prioritised institution building of
BIMSTEC, Foreign Secretary Paudyal underlined the need for conscious, credible,
and concerted actions to achieve more resilient, prosperous, and sustainable Bay
of Bengal region, the MoFA informed in a statement.
He also updated on the progress
achieved in the 'People-to-People Contact' sector that is being led by Nepal.
He also informed the meeting on the efforts made towards creating platforms for
people-to-people engagements in BIMSTEC region, such as the parliamentarians
and Speakers forum, and separate forums of entrepreneurs, universities, and
researchers, etc.
According to the MoFA, the meeting
endorsed several important instruments including the BIMSTEC Bangkok Vision
2030, Agreement on Maritime Transport Cooperation, Rules of Procedures for
BIMSTEC Mechanisms, Terms of Reference for Eminent Persons' Group, Inclusion of
Blue Economy, Mountain Economy and Poverty Alleviation under the purview of
re-constituted sectors/sub-sectors of BIMSTEC Cooperation.
A Joint Statement was issued at the
end of the Ministerial Meeting.
The 24th Ministerial
Meeting of BIMSTEC will be held in Thailand in November 2023 as a prelude to
the Sixth BIMSTEC Summit.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 10 March 2023.
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