New Delhi, Mar 31 (UNI) The 6th BIMSTEC Summit scheduled to take place on April 4, in Bangkok, Thailand, will be preceded by a Meeting of BIMSTEC Senior Officials on April 2 and a Meeting of BIMSTEC Foreign or External Affairs Ministers on April 3.

The 6th Summit of the Heads of State/Governments of the member States of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is being held three years after the 5th Summit (held Virtually, Colombo, March 30, 2022). The theme of the upcoming summit is ‘Prosperous, Resilient, and Open BIMSTEC’.

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, a statement issued by the BIMSTEC Secretariat in Dhaka said.

The Summit 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. The Agreement aims at expanding maritime transport in the Bay of Bengal with a view to enhancing transport of cargo as well as people enabling more trade and travel amongst the member States;

● 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), 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. 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.

BIMSTEC which brings together five countries from South Asia and two countries from South East Asia, is poised to evolve into a vibrant and dynamic regional organisation.

As BIMSTEC’s highest policymaking body, the Summits play a pivotal role in shaping the organization’s agenda and work. Since BIMSTEC’s inception in June 1997, five Summits have been held: in Bangkok (2004), New Delhi (2008), Nay Pyi Daw (2014), Kathmandu (2018) and Colombo (2022).

BIMSTEC comprises seven countries of the Bay of Bengal region: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. 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 eight sub-sectors: Blue Economy, Mountain Economy, Energy, Disaster Management, Fisheries & Livestock, Poverty Alleviation, Health, and Human Resource Development.

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