ISDS Case Map
BIMSTEC
Bangladesh-India-Myanmar-Sri Lanka-Thailand (plus Bhutan and Nepal) Economic Cooperation
India took its trade diplomacy up several notches with negotiators wrapping up a free trade deal in goods with other BIMSTEC countries, ie. Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Nepal.
Pitching for early conclusion of the BIMSTEC Free Trade Agreement, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said countries in Asia should give a new strategic thrust to the cooperation in the backdrop of global financial crisis.
A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) amongst Bimstec region is in the pipeline, according to Mr Yogendra Kumar, additional secretary, ministry of external affairs.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa will attend the summit conference of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) to be held in New Delhi on November 13. President Mahinda Rajapaksa is also scheduled to have a bilateral meeting with India's Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) comprising Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand established in 1997 is a $810 billion economy, sharing about 22% of world population and 3.64% of surface area. After a gap of three years, India is going to host the second BIMSTEC summit during November 11-13, 2008 at New Delhi. The last summit was held in Bangkok in 2004. The summit-level meeting in BIMSTEC was delayed mainly due to political reasons and non-cooperation of some of the member countries.
Bangladesh feels that the BIMSTEC has immense potential for creating greater economic interaction, flow of trade and investment among the member states, though its FTA has yet to be finalised.
Seven countries of the Bay of Bengal rim will plan a common agenda for agriculture development to ensure food security and measures aimed at poverty alleviation at their first ministerial meeting here on 9 July.
Trade analysts say that Sri Lanka should make the most of existing trade deals like the Bay of Bengal Initiative before negotiating more bilateral and multilateral agreements.
It remains unclear to me what the advantages of being part of the Saarc grouping are over entering into bilateral relations with each individual Saarc country instead. I have always like the concept of Bimstec instead.
With 11 days left for the bilateral trade pact between India and Nepal to lapse, the two neighbours started their two-day talks on Thursday to review the 11-year-old Indo-Nepal trade treaty.
