The city will host a two-day ministerial conference on Saturday and Sunday on the occasion of the 25th year of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation), which was formed in 1997 to enhance inter-linkages and interdependence among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
A host of topics, like climate change, food security, communication and finding ways to increase people-to-people contact among the member countries, will come up for discussion during the two-day conference. The Ministry of External Affairs and Institute of Social and Cultural Studies India, a Calcutta -based thinktank, will organise the conference.
As the BIMSTEC region hosts 22 per cent of the world population and the member states have a combined GDP of US$3.697 trillion/per year, the regional grouping, several analysts have observed, has the potential to ensure higher growth in the region through proper linkages and cooperation.
Foreign policy researchers have often said that several factors — like lack of efficiency and inconsistency in policy making to scarcity of resources to selective interest of some of the member countries — came in the way of the regional grouping realising its potential.
“This conference has been designed to address all the persisting issues and challenges in the Bimstec with a country-wise representation and perspective. Not only will this programme draw up a blueprint of what policies can be implemented, it will also highlight what has not worked in the past,” said Arindam Mukherjee, director, ISCS.
According to him, separate sessions, during the conference, on fostering cooperation in areas like education, food security, cultural exchanges and people-to-people contact will result in win-win outcomes for the member countries.
