MYANMAR is due to assume the chairmanship of the BIMSTEC regional economic grouping early next year, the Foreign Minister, U Nyan Win, said last week.

He said Myanmar will assume its two-year chairmanship at the end of the second summit of leaders of the seven-member Bay of Bengal Initiative on Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation grouping, due to held in New Delhi next February.

The first BIMSTEC summit was held in Thailand in 2004. Myanmar is expected to host the third summit of the grouping in 2010.

India serves as the current chair of the grouping whose members, apart from Myanmar, include Thailand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.

U Nyan Win was speaking at a ceremony in Nay Pyi Taw on July 13 marking the 10th anniversary of the founding of the grouping

Addressing the ceremony, U Nyan Win called for more active participation by the private sector in Myanmar to promote trade and other economic cooperation under BIMSTEC.

“We also noted on the need for more effort to increase trade and travelling among BIMSTEC members,” U Nyan Win said.

He said economic cooperation among BIMSTEC could help to promote economic development in Myanmar, through assistance from the grouping’s more economically and technologically advanced members.

U Nyan Win said BIMSTEC was established as a result of policies by Thailand and India to promote economic cooperation with their respective neighbours.

“BIMSTEC emerged as the result of the Look West policy by Thailand to expand economic and trade relations with South Asia and the Look East policy by the countries in the Indian subcontinent to foster closer economic ties with Southeast Asia,” U Nyan Win told the ceremony.

Myanmar joined BIMSTEC in 1998, a year after the grouping was established.
BIMSTEC seeks to improve cooperation in agriculture, energy, poverty alleviation and environmental protection, as well as the fight against communicable diseases and international terrorism.