“BIMSTEC” 17th Ministerial Meeting

What is the News?

India’s External Affairs Minister attended the 17th ministerial meet of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) countries.

About the 17th ministerial meet of the BIMSTEC

• Sri Lanka Chaired the 17th Ministerial Meeting.
• In meeting External Affairs Minister of India, Dr. S. Jaishankar, reiterated India’s commitment to take BIMSTEC forward.

About BIMSTEC:

• It is a regional organization consisting of members from South Asia and South-East Asia. It was founded in 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration.
• Objective: The organization aims to harness shared, accelerated growth through mutual cooperation on multiple areas of common interests. The members will achieve this by using regional resources and geographical advantage.
• Members: It comprises seven Member States:
  • Five from South Asia including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka
  • Two from Southeast Asia including Myanmar and Thailand.
• Chairmanship: BIMSTEC Chairmanship rotates among member countries (alphabetically).
• Significance: Nearly 1.5 billion people or 22% of the global population comes under the BIMSTEC. Together, it has a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $2.7 trillion.
• Sectors: Currently, it is involved in 15 sectors. This includes sectors such as trade, technology, agriculture, tourism, fisheries, energy, and climate change among others for sectoral cooperation.
• First Summit: The First Summit Meeting of the Heads of the BIMSTEC Countries was held in Bangkok, Thailand in 2004.
• Headquarters: Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Source: The Hindu