Representatives of seven BIMSTEC member state attend the Senior Officials Meeting virtually. Photo: Collected
The 24th session of the BIMSTEC Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) was convened on Thursday in virtual format.
It was chaired by Paisan Rupanichkij, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, in its capacity as the current Chair of BIMSTEC.
The BIMSTEC Senior Officials Meeting comprises foreign secretaries/secretaries/senior officials from seven Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) member States.
Secretary General BIMSTEC, Indra Mani Pandey, and members of the BIMSTEC secretariat also attended the meeting, says a press release.
During the Meetings, the member states provided comprehensive updates on the progress made by them in forging regional cooperation in the sectors and sub-sectors they lead.
They also outlined their proposals for expanding regional cooperation within the BIMSTEC framework in future. The 24th Session of SOM approved the Budget of the Secretariat for 2025 and took other key decisions pertaining to expanding cooperation in various sectors, underscoring the collective commitment of the member States to advancement of regional cooperation under the BIMSTEC framework.
The Session concluded with adoption of the Report of the 24th BIMSTEC Senior Officials Meeting, which will be submitted to the next BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting, comprising foreign ministers of the member States.
BIMSTEC comprises seven countries of the Bay of Bengal region: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. It pursues regional cooperation in seven broad sectors: Agriculture and Food Security; Connectivity; Environment and Climate Change; People to People Contact; Science, Technology and Innovation; Security; and Trade, Investment and Development. Regional cooperation within BIMSTEC also covers 8 sub-sectors: Blue Economy, Mountain Economy, Energy, Disaster Management, Fisheries and Livestock, Poverty Alleviation, Health and Human Resource Development.
