S. Asian states, Thailand launch economic forum
S. Asian states, Thailand launch economic forum
BANGKOK (DPA): A new regional forum linking Thailand to Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka was launched yesterday with the broad goal of boosting economic cooperation in the Bay of Bengal region.
The new grouping has not committed itself to intra-regional tariff reductions.
Senior ministers from the four countries gathered in Bangkok June 4-6 to hash out the terms of reference for Asia's latest acronym, BIST-EC, which immediately announced plans to promote tourism in a region that encompassed the so-called "Buddha Belt" because of their common religious and cultural heritage.
"Our four countries share a common historical heritage. We now must make the past relevant to the present," said Pitak Intrawityanunt, Thailand's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Bangkok Declaration officially launched the Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand - Economic Cooperation (BIST-EC), yet another regional grouping devoted to promoting mutual economic prosperity.
Burma, or Myanmar, attended the signing ceremony as an "observer" and has been invited to join the new grouping when it is ready.
It was decided that the BIST-EC secretariat would be based in Bangkok, which initiated the BIST-EC concept as part of the Thai government's "look West" policy adopted in 1994.
Thailand aspires to become a bridge between the economies of South Asia and the dynamic Southeast Asian region, currently grouped under the 30 year-old Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Although essentially a Thai initiative India has thrown its considerable economic weight behind the BIST-EC idea.
"It was Thailand that conceived this idea, and it was Thailand's vision, but India is going to play a very important role in making that vision a reality, " said Salaam Iqbal Shewrvani, Indian Minister of State.
"We have decided to prepare a concept paper on tourism and on the possibility of starting an airline between our countries which will service the Buddhist route," he added.
Thailand originally invited Myanmar, part of Bay of Bengal neighborhood, to join the new forum, but Yangon declined.
Myanmar's military regime, however, changed its tune over the weekend after learning of its pending acceptance into ASEAN, a much older grouping that wields considerable economic and political clout.
Despite Yangon's pariah status among western democracies, Thailand has insisted on the importance of its membership in BIST-EC, which will eventually tackle trade and investment issues.
"They (Myanmar) are part of the Bay of Bengal. This area, these five countries, are linked together already," said Pitak.