Bimstec to launch ambitious land, air, sea transport plan |ForumIAS

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Important Facts

Senior officials of all seven BIMSTEC countries will meet in Bangkok to discuss an ambitious rail, road, port and air connectivity master plan.
It is another sign that the grouping has renewed diplomatic energy and is becoming India’s preferred mode of encouraging regional cooperation.
The draft connectivity master plan has been arrived at after over a decade of discussions at various levels.
The idea is to have a framework for the organization for seamless connectivity between and across BIMSTEC countries.
It will use different transport modes to increase transport and trade linkages for faster and more inclusive growth.
A BIMSTEC Transport Infrastructure and Logistics Study (BTILS) was completed with Asian Development Bank (ADB) funding in November 2007.
Since then, the plan went through many discussion processes, but a definite forward movement was not taking place.
The plan complements the plan of other regional groupings with overlapping geographical territory such as ASEAN etc.
The plan underlines the fact that lack of a regional connectivity plans hampered the economic progress of the region.
Connectivity in BIMSTEC countries:

Road transport accounts for about 70% of the freight movement within the BIMSTEC region and dominates the overall regional transport system.
BIMSTEC has one of the largest railway networks in the world.
The region is also interconnected by both mainline and deep-sea container and feeder ships distributing containers throughout the region from hub ports.
In addition, there are over 200 flights linking regional destinations.

The report also calls for better facilitation of cargo movements between the countries.

Bimstec to launch ambitious land, air, sea transport plan