Bay Initiative needs a shot in the arm for effective cooperation

The Secretariat of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) started formal functioning in Dhaka from last week.
It is otherwise expected to enhance the image of Bangladesh among the international community and deepen mutual understanding and cooperation with other member-states of BIMSTEC.
The BIMSTEC Secretariat, to mention, is the first headquarters of any inter-governmental organisation in Bangladesh. The government considers the establishment of the secretariat here as a great 'diplomatic achievement'.
The Bay Initiative is a multi-sectoral cooperation framework and it is its key component. This approach creates many layers of cooperation in order to ensure its quick integration.
Established in 1997 in Bangkok, the forum started its journey with only four participating members having six areas of cooperation within its operational ambit. Now, it has seven member states -- Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand -- and embraces 14 areas of cooperation. It also brought together over one fifth of the world's population whose combined GDP is about US$2.7 trillion.
Inaugurating the Secretariat, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed the hope that it would play its rightful role in implementing the BISMSTEC programmes and projects. It, she noted, will also be creative, in bringing new ideas and initiatives for cooperation in the region.
The Prime Minister mooted a six-point proposal, including those for poverty alleviation and meeting climate-change challenges, for the consideration of the Bay Initiative member-states in the greater interest of this region. She also called for cooperation in agriculture sector, making effective the framework agreement on BIMSTEC Free Trade Area, improvement of the regional connectivity and collaboration in energy sector.
There is no denying the need for strengthening cooperation in the areas of energy for sustainable development of its member-countries. The regional body is a very potential area for hydropower in the Himalaya basin and hydrocarbon in the Bay of Bengal. Its member-nations need to work together to tap the potential and promote regional energy security.
Certainly, the forum can serve as a bridge between South and South-East Asia, if cooperation becomes meaningful and does not remain a mere pious wish. This regional forum represents a group of countries with some unique blending of commonalities and diversities. Many common challenges and opportunities provide the impetus for stronger collaboration.
With the creation of this regional body, one thing is quite noticeable -- the special interest of regional diplomacy is now attracting more countries. And henceforth, it is essential to make concerted endeavours in order to turn the BIMSTEC into an effective regional body. Bilateral relations among the member nations have to be strengthened.
As of now, the forum has been pursuing the goal of economic integration through cooperation agreements among countries of the region. This is policy-induced integration in contrast to a market-driven one.  In this context, the newly set-up Secretariat has to play a vital role with its existing structures in pushing forward the integration process.  
The Secretariat should also focus on a few areas of items to produce results rather than setting eyes on a grand agenda and thereby diluting its efforts. Very recently, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has completed the BIMSTEC Transport Infrastructure and Logistic Study (BTILS).
This, as the analysts suggest, can be a starting point for action.  The study, supported by the ADB, will help enhance regional connectivity. For this purpose, concrete projects have been identified for implementation.  
The BIMSTEC transport infrastructure connectivity is also expected to derive benefits out of the on-going initiatives of the BCIM (Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar) corridor.  Thus, focusing on transport integration with sub-regional infrastructure investment support can provide an excellent starting point for the Secretariat.
Some of such transport integration arrangements are linked to the Asia Highways and Trans-Asia Railway projects that were initiated by ESCAP sometime back.
There is, as the market analysts say, a need to strengthen the BIMSTEC Chamber of Commerce network to complement the policy-driven integration process in such sectors with the much needed market-driven one.
Prolonged Indo-Pakistan conflicts have been obstructing the process for South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to live up to its expectations. Bangladesh has also some long-lingering irritants in its bilateral relationship with both its neighbours -- India and Myanmar -- over a number of contentions issues.
The unresolved Rohingya refugee issue, to cite here, has been one major problem for Bangladesh in its relations with Myanmar. The dispute has been lingering on, for over three decades. But no concrete promise has yet been made by Myanmar to help resolve it. The issue thus remains an unsettled burning one between two countries of the forum's four-member states.
The BIMSTEC is, nevertheless, a strategically important initiative. But its leadership must understand that while working on a common ground, the pending bilateral disputes among its member-countries should be settled and not be avoided.
In terms of communication, direct road links spanning from Myanmar to India and beyond, are likely to open up vast opportunities for augmenting cross-border trade. Bangladesh, as the gateway being located strategically between the east and the west, will then be greatly benefited under such an arrangement.
Investments, particularly foreign direct investment (FDI)-related ones, in the areas of energy and infrastructure, are the prime areas of interest for all member-countries. Technical cooperation in these areas to develop the region as a whole will also undoubtedly be a welcome move for the member-nations.
Unlike the SAARC, the forum's economic agenda, however, is otherwise less vulnerable to regional politics. As such, it needs now to look at building a strong link between South and East Asia. The Bay Initiative has to be time-bound and result-oriented for fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of the peoples of the region.
  

 szkhan@dhaka.net