President Sirisena appointed new BIMSTEC Chairman

• Fifth BIMSTEC Summit to be held in Sri Lanka

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

The fourth BIMSTEC Summit commenced on Thursday in Kathmandu, Nepal. During the conclusion of the Summit, the new Chairmanship was handed over to President Sirisena.  

Accordingly, the fifth Summit of the BIMSTEC will be held in Sri Lanka. 

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organisation comprising of seven member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity, which are 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 interest by mitigating the onslaught of globalisation and by utilising 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 fourth Summit of 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 the President of Nepal Bidhya Devi Bhandari. 

Foreign Ministers of the BIMSTEC member States signed the MoU on the establishment of BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection.

Later, the Kathmandu Declaration was launched.