At the official invitation of Mr Don Pramudwinai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, the current Chair of BIMSTEC, Union Minister for Foreign Affairs U Than Swe participated in the BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers’ Retreat held on 17 July 2023.

Foreign Ministers of the BIMSTEC Member States i.e. Dr A K Abdul Momen, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, Dr Tandi Dorji, Minister for For­eign Affairs and External Trade of Bhutan, Dr S Jaishankar, Min­ister for External Affairs of In­dia, Mr Narayan Prakash Saud, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nepal, Mr Ali Sabry, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, Mr Don Pramudwinai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Thailand and Mr Tenzin Lekphell, BIMSTEC Secretary-General were present at the Retreat.

During the Retreat, Foreign Ministers cordially discussed and exchanged views on matters related to the BIMSTEC Coop­eration mechanism as well as regional and global issues.

On the BIMSTEC Cooper­ation mechanism, their discus­sions focused on the cooperation with the external partners, the establishment of the Eminent Persons’ Group (EPG) on the Future Directions of BIMSTEC and the holding of the BIMSTEC Ministerial Meetings. They also deliberated on resiliency to cri­sis i.e. pandemic, financial crisis and natural disasters, post-Cov­id-19 economic development and other regional and global issues including ways and means to establish cross-border digital payment systems, health, en­ergy and food security.

After the Retreat, the BIM­STEC Chair of Thailand hosted a Luncheon in honour of delega­tions to the BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers’ Retreat.

Then, the BIMSTEC For­eign Ministers paid a joint cour­tesy call to Mr Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand.

On the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers’ Retreat, Mr Tenzin Lekphell, Secretary-General of BIMSTEC paid a courtesy call on Union Minister U Than Swe on the afternoon of 16 July 2023. Dur­ing the call, the Union minister handed over the original docu­ment of Myanmar’s “Instrument of Ratification to the BIMSTEC Charter” to the Secretary-Gen­eral.

Myanmar has already rat­ified the BIMSTEC Charter as per the provisions stipulated in the Charter.

On the evening of 16 July 2023, Union Minister U Than Swe together with the Foreign Ministers from other BIMS­TEC Member States attended the welcoming dinner hosted by Mr Don Pramudwinai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Thailand, the current Chair of BIMSTEC.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIM­STEC) is a regional organiza­tion established in 1997 and it comprises seven Member States namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, In­dia, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The main aim of BIMSTEC is to promote eco­nomic cooperation among the Member States of the Bay of Bengal region. Out of the cur­rent seven Sectors of BIMSTEC Cooperation, Myanmar is now serving as the Lead Country in “Agriculture and Food Security Sector”. — MNA