Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs U Kyaw Myo Htut participated in the 19th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting which was held virtually yesterday from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nay Pyi Taw.
The meeting was chaired by Mr Don Pramudwinai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Thailand, and attended by the Ministers/State Minister of External Affairs/Foreign Affairs and External Trade of the other BIMSTEC Member States which are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka as well as by the Secretary-General of BIMSTEC.
Mr Don Pramudwinai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Thailand delivered a welcome statement and other Heads of Delegation of BIMSTEC Member States made their statements respectively.
In his statement, Deputy Minister U Kyaw Myo Htut expressed his appreciation to Thailand for its tremendous efforts in holding this important meeting and also congratulated Thailand for its excellent chairmanship which brought to the successful endorsement of “BIMSTEC Bangkok Vision 2030” and the “Rules of Procedures (RoP) for various BIMSTEC Mechanisms. He also commended the work of BIMSTEC SOM Leaders and BIMSTEC Permanent Working Committee (BPWC) for finalizing Rules of Procedures (RoP) for various BIMSTEC Mechanisms i.e., Core, Sectoral and External Relations as well as for finalizing the ToR for Eminent Persons’ Group (EPG) on the Future Directions of BIMSTEC.
The deputy minister stated that Myanmar as a Lead Country for the Agriculture and Food Security Sector of BIMSTEC had prepared the “Plan of Action on Strengthening BIMSTEC Agricultural Cooperation (2023- 2027)” in consultation with the BIMSTEC Secretariat and also welcomed the adoption of the said Plan of Action at the Second BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture on 10 November 2022. He also highlighted that Myanmar successfully hosted the “Regional Seminar on Food Security and Sustainable Food Systems in BIMSTEC” in January 2023 with the participation of all Member States in order to explore ways and means for food security in the BIMSTEC region.
He also reiterated the importance of adhering to principles enshrined in the BIMSTEC Charter by all Member States while intensifying the commitment and cooperation under the BIMSTEC Framework.
Heads of Delegation considered and adopted the Report of the Twenty Third Session of the BIMSTEC Senior Officials Meeting held virtually by Thailand on 8 March 2023. They also approved/endorsed the various BIMSTEC Agreements and other important documents including BIMSTEC Bangkok Vision 2030, Rules of Procedure (RoP) for BIMSTEC Mechanisms, Terms of Reference for Eminent Persons’ Group on the Future Directions of BIMSTEC and Inclusion of Blue Economy, Mountain Economy and Poverty Alleviation under the purview of reconstituted sectors/sub-sectors of BIMSTEC Cooperation. They also adopted the Joint Statement of the Nineteenth BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting by consensus. – MNA
