The sixth BIMSTEC summit held in Bangkok on April 4 has issued a declaration titled Prosperous, Resilient and Open BIMSTEC. The summit has expressed satisfaction on the coming into force of the BIMSTEC Charter on 20 May 2024. The summit has adopted the BIMSTEC Bangkok Vision 2030 for common aspiration toward a forward-looking BIMSTEC region that is prosperous, resilient and open to tackle challenges and seize opportunities for the coming decade. It has agreed to take appropriate measures on priority basis in the areas of mutual benefit to build a robust BIMSTEC to address the contemporary global challenges, expressed in the BIMSTEC Bangkok Vision 2030 (included as Annexure) as part of this declaration.
It has also adopted the rules of procedures for BIMSTEC Mechanism as recommended by the ministerial meeting and reiterated the commitment to timely holdings of the summit and meetings of all BIMSTEC mechanisms. The summit commended the Eminent Persons’ Group on the future direction of BIMSTEC for their report and recommendations, and emphasised on the early implementation of recommendation. The secretary-general has been mandated to monitor and report the progress of implementation of EPG’s recommendations to the summit.
The summit reiterated commitment to swiftly conclude the BIMSTEC Free Trade Area Agreement (FTA) and direct the Trade Negotiating Committee and its working groups to finalize the constituent agreement to BIMSTEC FTA without any further delay.
Acknowledging that several BIMSTEC member-states are poised to graduate from the LDC status, face structural constraints and challenges that hinder their competitiveness in external trade due to the, among others, high trade and transit cost and commit to extend necessary support to the graduating and land-locked member-states in their development efforts, with a view to ensuring equitable benefits during the implementation of BIMSTEC FTA, the declaration says.
The summit urged the member-states to explore the possibility of establishing BIMSTEC mutual recognition arrangements of standards to reap the benefits of trade facilitation measures within the region. It further urged the member-states to finalize the agreement on trade facilitation and agreement on cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters on a priority basis. The declaration also called for encouraging relevant officials of member-states to explore the possibility of establishing digital cross-border payment systems and trade settlements in local currencies, noting that some member-states have already adopted the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
