BIMSTEC
New Vista
The
joining of the BIMSTEC grouping could open new vista of economic cooperation for Nepal
By A
CORRESPONDENT
Close on the heels
of joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA), Nepal
has joined another regional economic grouping called BIMSTEC.
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| Making carpets
: Will its export increase ? |
Coined as the
Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC),
the grouping includes seven member states such as Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar,
Nepal and Bhutan.
The first summit of
the BIMSTEC concluded last week in Bangkok, Thailand after identifying core areas of
cooperation in technology, trade and investment, human resource development, transport and
communication, energy, tourism and fisheries through a Bangkok Declaration. “Nepal
attaches special significance to the promotion of economic cooperation in the region
surrounding the Bay of Bengal,” Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said addressing the
summit. “All our rivers originating in the Himalayas ultimately flow into this Bay. A
land-locked economy, Nepal has a major economic and environmental stake in the overall
development of the region,” he said.
Described as being
the bridge between South East Asia and South Asia, the BIMSTEC aims to integrate and
develop the economy of the region.
Reports say that
currently, the intra-regional trade among BIMSTEC countries stands at meager US$ 7.5
billion, which is four percent of their total trade. During the summit, three developing
countries of the grouping Thailand, India and Sri Lanka have pledged to liberate their
economy by 2012. Other countries have been given five additional years to do so.
Economists and
businessmen are still unclear how beneficial the new regional grouping would be for Nepal.
“Except for Thailand and Myanmar, all the other members of this group are the members
of the SAARC. I don’t see how this would be of great help to Nepal,” said an
economist.
Others say that Nepal
should take advantage of this grouping to develop its trade with the South East Asian
countries like Thailand. “It is going to open up a whole new array of
possibilities,” they conclude.
Nepal now needs to
ratify its decision to join the regional grouping. “The process of ratification of
the treaty would be carried out by next parliament,” said state minister for foreign
affairs Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat. According to legal provisions, any international
agreement or treaty needs to be ratified by the parliament in order to be legitimate. At
present, there is no parliament in place. Unlike WTO, whose accession had been ratified by
the government through ordinance, experts say BIMSTEC agreement needs to be ratified by
parliament. |
