Sri Lanka assumes Chairmanship of BIMSTEC

The Chairmanship of the 5th Summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) handed over to President Maithripala Sirisena. 

The 4th Summit of the BIMSTEC commenced yesterday in Kathmandu, Nepal and today during the conclusion of the summit the new The Chairmanship of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) was handed over to the Sri Lankan President Maithirpala Sirisena today. Accordingly, the 5th Summit of the BIMSTEC will be held in Sri Lanka.

BIMSTEC is a regional organization comprising seven Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity. It constitutes seven Member States: five deriving from South Asia -Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and two from Southeast Asia -Myanmar and Thailand.

The objective of building such an alliance was to harness shared and accelerated growth through mutual cooperation in different areas of common interests by mitigating the onslaught of globalization and by utilizing regional resources and geographical advantages.

President Sirisena delivering a special statement after accepting the new Chairmanship said that he will take forward the functions of the Summit with a clear agenda. 

The President further said that the assistance of all the member states is expected to achieve those goals and extended his gratitude to the government of Nepal for holding the 4th Summit of the BIMSTEC in a highly successful manner as well as for the warm welcome given to him and his delegation. 

All the state leaders extended their best wishes to the President for his new appointment as the Chairman of the BIMSTEC and they expressed confidence that the functions of the BIMSTEC will move forward with strength under the leadership of the President Sirisena. 

The conclusion of the summit was held under the patronage of President of Nepal. Foreign Ministers of the BIMSTEC member states signed the MoU on the establishment of BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection. Later, the Kathmandu Declaration was launched.