ISDS Case Map
BIMSTEC
Bangladesh-India-Myanmar-Sri Lanka-Thailand (plus Bhutan and Nepal) Economic Cooperation
Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation’s lack of concrete achievement points to the need for greater political will and clarity of purpose
Urging the seven-member BIMSTEC grouping to fast-track trade and economic cooperation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday called for “early conclusion” of the BIMSTEC Free Trade Agreement and said it should be extended to investment and services.
BIMSTEC leaders today resolved to expeditiously conclude an agreement on trade in goods to promote commerce among member nations India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Bhutan and Nepal.
The idea of a Mekong-India Economic Corridor -- a network of land and sea infrastructure connecting India, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam -- is gaining traction with the upcoming signing of the India-ASEAN services and investment deal.
The long forgotten traditional links including the historic Stilwell Road connecting the North-east and the neighbouring countries have emerged as critical to connecting South Asia and Southeast Asia.
New Delhi/India today extended a $ 500 million line of credit to the Government of Myanmar as the two countries signed 12 agreements for cooperation in various areas and agreed on a vision for the future in the pursuit of the common good - bilaterally, regionally and globally.
India has traditionally looked West for trade, investment, and economic cooperation. But since the late 1990s, trade policy rightly focused on the Look East policy, and recognized that India needs to become integrated into the cross-border production and trade networks in Asia. The immediate attention was towards South Asian integration. But since the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the South Asian Free Trade Area remained just on paper on account of the yet unresolved differences between India and Pakistan, the government simultaneously initiated trade agreements with Southeast Asia.
This article is based on the author's visit to Manipur and the observations expressed are gathered from the formal and informal interactions with people working on Indo-Myanmar issues from long time.
The BIMSTEC member countries have decided to establish a free trade area (FTA) for transaction in goods from July next year. If established, the FTA would be two years behind its original deadline, trade official said.
Thailand today said it will push for the conclusion of a free trade agreement with India and other members of Bimstec by July, enabling tariff reduction next year.
