On 22 January 2011, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya attended the 13th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting, in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. During the morning, the heads of delegations from the seven member countries, namely, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand, paid a joint call on H.E. Thein Sein, Prime Minister of the Union of Myanmar. Thereafter, the Ministers met to take stock and review past activities as well as to set the direction for future cooperative endeavours.
In his statement during the Meeting, while noting that BIMSTEC, over the past 13 years, has expanded its scope of activities to meet new challenges, Foreign Minister Kasit emphasised the need to set priorities and clear directions in which BIMSTEC should move forward. In this connection, he proposed that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) be invited to conduct a comprehensive assessment of BIMSTEC cooperation, in order to identify key priority areas and formulate appropriate strategies.
In Thailand’s view, enhancing the physical, economic and people-to-people connectivity should be accorded a high priority. Thailand would therefore continue its active role in enhancing BIMSTEC connectivity. Apart from providing financial and technical assistance in the area of road construction, particularly along Thailand-Myanmar-India road link, Thailand fully supported the development of Dawei Deep Sea Port in Myanmar, which would become a gateway for the region to connect with traditional and emerging markets to the west of BIMSTEC, creating modern Silk Routes, both on land and sea, where Southeast Asia and South Asia together make growth and prosperity.
In addition to the connectivity issue, Foreign Minister Kasit reiterated Thailand’s support for the early completion of the Trade in Goods Agreement under the BIMSTEC FTA. He underscored the importance attached by Thailand to three related sectors, namely Tourism, Culture and People-to-People Contact, offering to arrange programmes promoting those three-related areas, including the religious trails. Additionally, the Foreign Minister believed that BIMSTEC should harness the region’s abundant natural resources to promote renewable energy, particularly hydropower and biofuel. In this regard, Thailand welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Association for the Establishment of the BIMSTEC Energy Centre.
On the venue of the BIMSTEC Permanent Secretariat, Foreign Minister Kasit congratulated Bangladesh for having been selected to host the Permanent Secretariat, and also congratulated Sri Lanka for its future role as the first Secretary General of BIMSTEC.
Lastly, he noted that with the 7th November 2010 elections in Myanmar, BIMSTEC was now a region of six aspiring democracies. He therefore urged the member countries to work together to help nurture each other in the process of further democratization.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th