Delhi hosts BIMSTEC summit in Nov
Naim-Ul-Karim | Monday, 11 August 2008
The long-deferred second summit of the economic bloc of seven South and Southeast Asian countries has been scheduled to be held in the second week of November in New Delhi, an official in Dhaka said Monday.
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) deferred the summit scheduled for February last year in India, citing political instability in the member states, including Nepal, the official added.
'The summit was deferred as member states agreed that political instability in Bangladesh and Nepal would be a major impediment to adding an impetus to regional cooperation as desired,' the official said.
He also said the BIMSTEC bloc accounting for 21 per cent of the world population has decided to hold the summit on November 11 and 12 despite the political uncertainty in Bangladesh, as it needs progress in some stalled issues for betterment of the 1.3 billion people of the region.
'This time we did not make any objection when the date for the summit was proposed,' the official mentioned.
A preparatory meeting of DGs handling the BIMSTEC matters in foreign ministries of the member countries will be held on August 26 and 27 in New Delhi while the 12th BIMSTEC senior officials' meeting and the 10th BIMSTEC ministerial meeting are also scheduled to be held on August 28 and 29 respectively.
BIMSTEC, a sub-regional grouping accounting for a combined GDP of $750 billion, was formed in 1997 in Bangkok. It covers 13 priority sectors, namely trade and investment, technology, energy, tourism, fisheries, agriculture, environment and disaster management, people-to-people contact, poverty alleviation, and counter-terrorism and transnational crimes.
The second summit of top leaders of the seven nations--Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand--will focus on establishing an energy centre for power grid connectivity among member states for sharing electricity.
'We will be immensely benefited if there is any consensus on the issue as we face a huge power crisis in the country,' a foreign ministry official said.
Apart from this, he said the upcoming summit will discuss the fate of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), a top priority for the member nations.
Besides FTA on trading in goods, BIMSTEC members earlier also agreed to enforce the FTA on trade in services and investment from July, 2007.
The official said the upcoming meet of the leaders is also expected to discuss the key elements of a permanent secretariat for BIMSTEC including rationale and scope, organisational structure, location and physical facilities, financial contribution formula and timeline to operationalise it.
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) deferred the summit scheduled for February last year in India, citing political instability in the member states, including Nepal, the official added.
'The summit was deferred as member states agreed that political instability in Bangladesh and Nepal would be a major impediment to adding an impetus to regional cooperation as desired,' the official said.
He also said the BIMSTEC bloc accounting for 21 per cent of the world population has decided to hold the summit on November 11 and 12 despite the political uncertainty in Bangladesh, as it needs progress in some stalled issues for betterment of the 1.3 billion people of the region.
'This time we did not make any objection when the date for the summit was proposed,' the official mentioned.
A preparatory meeting of DGs handling the BIMSTEC matters in foreign ministries of the member countries will be held on August 26 and 27 in New Delhi while the 12th BIMSTEC senior officials' meeting and the 10th BIMSTEC ministerial meeting are also scheduled to be held on August 28 and 29 respectively.
BIMSTEC, a sub-regional grouping accounting for a combined GDP of $750 billion, was formed in 1997 in Bangkok. It covers 13 priority sectors, namely trade and investment, technology, energy, tourism, fisheries, agriculture, environment and disaster management, people-to-people contact, poverty alleviation, and counter-terrorism and transnational crimes.
The second summit of top leaders of the seven nations--Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand--will focus on establishing an energy centre for power grid connectivity among member states for sharing electricity.
'We will be immensely benefited if there is any consensus on the issue as we face a huge power crisis in the country,' a foreign ministry official said.
Apart from this, he said the upcoming summit will discuss the fate of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), a top priority for the member nations.
Besides FTA on trading in goods, BIMSTEC members earlier also agreed to enforce the FTA on trade in services and investment from July, 2007.
The official said the upcoming meet of the leaders is also expected to discuss the key elements of a permanent secretariat for BIMSTEC including rationale and scope, organisational structure, location and physical facilities, financial contribution formula and timeline to operationalise it.