Leaders of member states Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) attend the BIMSTEC Leaders' Retreat in Goa of India, on Sunday, October 16, 2016. Photo: MEA India

KATHMANDU: Nepal's Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal stressed connectivity between and among member states of BIMSTEC as he addressed the BIMSTEC Leaders' Retreat in Goa of India, on Sunday.

"The potential of this grouping cannot be unleashed without advancing integration," he said, "The engine of growth and development cannot perform in full capacity without intensifying cooperation. And, BIMSTEC provides that vital platform for integration and cooperation."

"Connectivity in all forms must be pursued with topmost priority.  For a landlocked country like ours the importance of physical connectivity, among others, cannot be overemphasised."

Dahal claimed that development potentials of this grouping were huge, stating, "With over 1.5 billion of population and combined GDP of USD 2.5 trillion, this region can be a dynamic engine of growth and development."

The Prime Minister, in particular, stressed cooperation in energy, trade and investment, technological and human resource development, tourism and other economic agendas.

"Establishment of BIMSTEC Buddhist Circuit and BIMSTEC Heritage Sites will be important initiatives to promote people-to-people contacts and tourism," he added.

Highlighting various challenges of the region, he stressed collective will and concerted effort to overcome them.

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Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's at the BIMSTEC Leaders’ Retreat, Goa, India, 16 October 2016

Your Excellency Shri Narendra Modiji, Prime Minister of India;

Fellow leaders from BIMSTEC member states;

Secretary General of BIMSTEC;

Ladies and Gentlemen!

I am pleased to attend the BIMSTEC Leaders’ Retreat in this beautiful city of Goa.

I thank Prime Minister Modiji for this opportunity and admire his leadership in taking this initiative.

Thank you, Prime Minister, for the kind invitation, warm hospitality and excellent arrangements made for the Retreat.

At the outset let me offer my heartfelt condolences and sympathies on the sad demise of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, King of Thailand. We stand by the friendly people of Thailand at this hour of profound grief.

Excellencies,

BIMSTEC member states are connected by cultures, history and geography.  This commonality provides a strong foundation and motivation for cooperation.

BIMSTEC connects two vibrant regions of Asia, South East Asia and South Asia. Development potentials of this grouping are huge. With over 1.5 billion of population and combined GDP of US $2.5 trillion, this region can be a dynamic engine of growth and development.

The potential of this grouping cannot be unleashed without advancing integration. The engine of growth and development cannot perform in full capacity without   intensifying cooperation. And BIMSTEC provides that vital platform for integration and cooperation.

Connectivity in all forms must be pursued with topmost priority.  For a landlocked country like ours the importance of physical connectivity, among others, cannot be overemphasised.

Energy cooperation should be directed towards ensuring energy security for all of us. Region’s diverse sources of energy could be harnessed to establish a reliable energy mix for the region. Nepal offers huge renewable energy sources in terms of hydropower.

Cooperation on trade, investment and other matters on economic agenda must advance urgently.  Without progress on core areas, deeper integration will prove to be an elusive quest.

We need to expedite negotiations for concluding agreements on trade in goods, trade in services, mutual assistance in customs matters, among others.

We need to level up the playing field to ensure that opportunities and fruits of development will be shared by all the member states.

We need to put agriculture on high priority in our cooperation framework. Nepal, as the lead country on Poverty Alleviation, remains committed to bring tangible progress in this sector.

Establishment of BIMSTEC Buddhist Circuit and BIMSTEC Heritage Sites will be important initiatives to promote people-to-people contacts and tourism.

Progress in technological and human resources development is equally critical.

Excellencies,

Unfortunately, our region is not free from challenges. We continue to face a multitude of problems. Threat of terrorism and extremism is serious and is testing our will and ability.

We must fight these evils resolutely and unreservedly. Acts of terrorism cannot be condoned on any ground.

Growing phenomenon of non-communicable diseases; spread of pandemic diseases; increased food insecurity, adverse impact of natural disasters and climate change have made our development journey extremely difficult.

However, these challenges are conquerable. Our collective will and concerted effort can overwhelm these problems. Strengthened partnership and collaboration can overcome these hurdles.

Excellencies,

In the last two decades of BIMSTEC journey, we have made some progress. However, we have to acknowledge this fact –our progress has not matched our potentials; our progress has remained well below our expectation.

Responsibility is ours:

• to overcome the causes of inadequate performance and accelerate the process of integration;
• to make this region a region of development, peace and prosperity; and
• to decimate poverty, hunger and backwardness.

Responsibility is ours:

• to make this region a region of initiatives as well as achievements; and
• to ensure simultaneous widening and deepening of cooperation.

We must, therefore, set a clear vision for the next 20 years or so. Our vision must be underpinned by our firm commitment and concrete actions. We need a realistic and outcome oriented action plan to give practical meaning to our vision.

It is imperative that we constitute an Eminent Persons Group for this purpose and devise our vision in line with the UN 2030 Agenda including Sustainable Development Goals.

Before concluding, I would like to acknowledge the active role being played by the Secretary General and his team in coordinating and facilitating BIMSTEC process and activities.

While endorsing the outcome document of the Retreat, we are confident that the document will contribute immensely to the substantive preparation of the Fourth BIMSTEC Summit in 2017, for which we are eagerly waiting to welcome you in Kathmandu.

Thank you.

Remarks by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal at the BRICS-BIMSTEC Outreach Summit, Goa, India, 16 October 2016

His Excellency Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India,

Excellencies Leaders of BRICS and BIMSTEC member states,

Ladies and Gentlemen!

I congratulate Prime Minister Modiji and the Government of India for successfully hosting the 8th BRICS Summit.

I extend sincere thanks to the Prime Minister of India for convening this Outreach Summit. This event is a unique opportunity of dialogue between the two vibrant groupings of nations.

As we assemble here, one of our fellow BIMSTEC member, Thailand, is mourning the demise of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. I express heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the Royal Thai Government and friendly people of Thailand at this hour of grief.

While BRICS represents more than a third of world’s population and over a quarter of global GDP, BIMSTEC stands for the collective aspirations of over 1.5 billion people for development and a better future.

While BRICS has been a centre of gravity for growth and economic transformation, BIMSTEC possesses tremendous potentials to emerge as increasingly vibrant region.

This provides an impetus for collaborative partnership between BRICS and BIMSTEC. India, as a common member in both, can play a bridging role. 

Excellencies,

For us, BRICS members offer inspiring models of developmental transformation. Freeing millions of people out of the vicious cycle of poverty in the past two decades was undoubtedly an extraordinary accomplishment for BRICS.

From human development to manifold upturn of people’s per capita income; from critical infrastructure to upswing of trade and FDI, BRICS continue to achieve what was once beyond imagination. BRICS’ sustained growth helped stabilise world economy even during the worst economic and financial crisis.

We see BRICS’ rise as an opportunity. The biggest advantage of learning from the good practices of BRICS members is that their developmental tools and measures are tested in the unique developing country context.

BIMSTEC members are a home to nearly a fifth of world’s humanity, endowed with abundant natural resources and boundless capacity to grow.

We have close geographic linkage and share many cultural and civilizational ethos. For over a decade, we are working together for better lives and livelihoods of our peoples. BIMSTEC’s priorities largely converge with those of BRICS.

Excellencies,

This is the first time BRICS and BIMSTEC are deliberating on partnership in opportunities. Possibility of working together is immense.

In larger forums, we can better coordinate our views in global norm setting including through the reform in the global governance architecture reflective of current realities.

BRICS countries today are not only the prime locus of inbound global FDI but also the ever-enlarging source of outbound investment. As fellow developing countries and the countries in immediate neighbourhood of two important BRICS members, BIMSTEC members have a natural expectation that they receive greater share of FDI from BRICS countries. This will further deepen partnership.

Cooperation in education and human development could be beneficial to both groups. Demographic dividend is an asset for both. Large youthful population in our countries can be a force for transformation. But we need to focus on their development.

Our countries are at different stages of technological capacity and innovation index. BRICS countries possess state of the art technologies and some of them have emerged as technology leaders. This points to the possibility of promoting cooperation and sharing the benefits of technology.

Despite some progress in recent years, our countries are still the biggest concentration of world poverty in term of absolute number of poor. We can share with each other anti-poverty schemes that have effectively worked.

Agriculture is the mainstay of economy for most of us. BRICS members have made tremendous progress in transforming the traditional agricultural pattern into a modern technology-based economic sector. From this many of us can learn and benefit.

Cooperation in the field of energy is critical and can be a game changer in our socio-economic development landscape provided we develop a right energy mix. Greater use of renewable energy can contribute to clean and green development. Some of us have immense potentiality to generate renewable energy. If harnessed properly, others in neighbourhood can benefit as well.

State of the art infrastructure will provide us the much-needed physical foundation for closer intra-regional connectivity. Connectivity in all forms (roads, railways, waterways, airways and transmission ways) facilitates movement of goods, services and people. The importance of physical connectivity particularly for landlocked countries is vital. Such connectivity needs to be complemented by other forms of connectivity – be that in terms of knowledge, ideas, technology or finance.

We congratulate the BRICS for the establishment and successful operationalisation of the New Development Bank. The Bank can serve as an important source of funding infrastructure projects and programmes for sustainable development prioritised by BIMSTEC.

Excellencies,

We have common stake in successful realisation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Least developed countries should receive special support measures so that they are not left behind in this process.

We must collectively fight against the threat of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, human and drug trafficking and other trans-national crimes.

I conclude by thanking once again the Government of India and Prime Minister Modiji for organising this Summit. I am fully convinced that broadened and deepened partnership between BRICS and BIMSTEC would not only be supportive to our economic progress but also contribute to building peaceful and prosperous societies.

Our partnership should contribute to eradicate poverty from our regions by fully unleashing our respective potentials.

Our partnership should be rewarding and beneficial for all of us and contribute to enable us to grow and prosper together.

Our partnership should contribute to strengthen global peace and stability.

Our partnership should contribute to enhance our standing on the global stage.

Our partnership should make sure that none of us is left behind.

Thank you.

(Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs)