President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has said that international and intra-regional cooperation should be enhanced to rebuild the economy that is collapsing due to the current global crisis and to enrich people affected by poverty. The President further said that despite the challenges ahead, the future of BIMSTEC countries is clear and strong.  

The President made these remarks delivering the Welcome Address and Country Statement for the BIMSTEC Summit via online from the Presidential Secretariat, yesterday(30).  

This year’s Summit was hosted by Sri Lanka and chaired by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.   The BIMSTEC Senior Officers’ Meeting and the Cabinet Meeting was held on March 28 and 29 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall, Colombo, representing Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Thailand.  
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization that was established on 06 June 1997 with the signing of the Bangkok Declaration. Being a sector-driven grouping, cooperation within BIMSTEC had initially focused on six sectors in 1997 (trade, technology, energy, transport, tourism, and fisheries) and expanded in 2008 to incorporate agriculture, public health, poverty alleviation, counter-terrorism, environment, culture, people-to-people contact, and climate change. Subsequently, following steps to rationalize and reorganize sectors and sub-sectors, cooperation was reorganized in 2021 under the following sectors and sub-sectors led by the respective Member States.  

Striving to increase trade and investment activities within the region is important. Tourism, which is finally starting to re-emerge after two years of near inactivity, holds great potential for all BIMSTEC nations. Fostering intra-regional tourism should therefore be a pillar in BIMSTEC’s agenda.  

The Bay of Bengal region has become increasingly important for global connectivity and trade. The international shipping lines traversing these waters help keep the engines of the global economy running. It is essential that littoral nations work together to ensure that threats to these waters, as well as to regional states, are curtailed, President Rajapaksa stressed.   

The President explained the need for increased intelligence sharing, and inter-governmental and inter-agency cooperation amongst BIMSTEC member countries and added that the security of the region can be enhanced for the benefit of all nations through this.  

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that a grant of USD 1 million will be provided for the successful functioning of the BIMSTEC Secretariat.  

The Indian Premier said the time has also come to formulate the necessary legal framework to increase connectivity and cooperation among countries of the Organization. He also emphasized the importance of developing the agricultural and other sectors by adding value to the products.  

• This year’s Summit was hosted by Sri Lanka and chaired by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa
• The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization that was established on 06 June 1997