Twenty Years of BIMSTEC: Promoting Regional Cooperation and Integration in the Bay of Bengal Region

The Bay of Bengal is an area growing in economic and strategic importance derived from its position as the principal maritime connection between the Pacific and Indian Oceans and from the good economic prospects of many Bay of Bengal states. The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) regional integration process has made substantial progress in recent years. The Bay of Bengal could become the key economic connection between East and South Asia and a potential zone for Asian economic growth. An overarching priority for the BIMSTEC Member States would therefore be to further strengthen the regional integration process. Today BIMSTEC is celebrating 20 years of its establishment. In these two decades BIMSTEC has progressed in regional cooperation and integration front whereas it at the same time has faced several new challenges. This book reviews the past and provides new strategies to help BIMSTEC achieving a new paradigm of integration. It primarily deals with the regional cooperation and integration issues and assesses policy priorities effectiveness implementation imperatives and challenges. Each chapter in this book tries to capture essential features of the crosscutting issues and attempts to draw some policy implications. The subject of this book will be of special interests to policy planners development organisations academicians researchers as well as potential investors.The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organisation comprising seven Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity. This sub-regional organisation came into being on June 6 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration. It constitutes seven Member States: five deriving from South Asia including Bangladesh Bhutan India Nepal Sri Lanka and two from Southeast Asia including Myanmar and Thailand. The regional group constitutes a bridge between South and South East Asia and represents a reinforcement of relations among these countries.BIMSTEC has established a permanent Secretariat at Dhaka on September 13 2014. Headed by the Secretary General BIMSTEC Secretariat’s basic function is to provide for greater efficiency in the coordination of BIMSTEC organs and for more effective implementation of BIMSTEC projects and activities. BIMSTEC Secretariat serves as a channel of communication between the Association and its Member States as well as other regional organisations. H.E. Mr. M. Shahidul Islam from Bangladesh is the current Secretary General of BIMSTEC. The Secretary General is assisted by Directors on deputation from the Member States.