Connectivity key to making BIMSTEC work: Experts

Experts in a conference on ‘facilitating connectivity in the Bay of Bengal region’ have pitched for greater linkages between national development plans and plans for regional connectivity to make BIMSTEC work.

The one-day conference by Indian think-tank CUTS and the BIMSTEC secretariat in Dhaka brought together experts of the member states: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand.

Opening the discussion, BIMSTEC Secretary General Sumith Nakandala said the Bay of Bengal region was “historically well connected”.

“There was great trade in this region and there is no reason why that cannot happen again,” he said.

Born in 1997, BIMSTEC connects South Asia with the Southeast Asia, and serves as a platform for inter-regional cooperation between SAARC and ASEAN members.

It accounts for 21 percent of the world population, providing huge potential for trade. But intra-BIMSTEC trade is very low mostly due to low level of economic integration within the region and a dearth of infrastructure, especially transport connections within those countries.

The seven-country grouping is now being seen as an alternative to SAARC by some think-tanks following India-Pakistan tension that resulted in postponement of last year’s summit in Islamabad.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted BIMSTEC leaders at an outreach meet in Goa last year during the BRICS summit.

The grouping is promoting 14 priority sectors of development and common concerns including trade and investment, transport and communication, tourism and people-to-people contact.

CUTS Executive Director Bipul Chatterjee said national development plans to develop connectivity within the member-nations should be “in sync with larger plans for regional connectivity within the Bay of Bengal region”.

Subir Bhaumik

Chairing the first session of the conference, bdnews24.com’s Senior Editor Subir Bhaumik said the BIMSTEC grouping should play out with other regional groupings such as BBIN, BCIM and ASEAN.

“Connectivity is multi-dimensional and is not just physical. There are financial, cultural and social dimensions to connectivity.”

He said both land corridors and maritime connectivity is important for making the BIMSTEC a success.

“There are countries like Nepal and Bhutan in BIMSTEC which are landlocked. Other countries like India and Myanmar have deep inland regions, so land corridors are as important as sea linkages.”

Takayuki Kawakami, first secretary of the Japanese embassy in Dhaka, stressed his country’s funding of the physical infrastructure in Bangladesh that is compatible with larger plans for regional connectivity in the Bay of Bengal region.

He said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s BIG-B concept, Bay of Bengal Growth Belt, is “very much relevant for BIMSTEC” growth.

Selim Raihan, who teaches economics at Dhaka University, called for greater investment to promote the regional connectivity and pitched for both policy and growth integration rather than mere market integration.

He called for closely linking the 100-odd special economic zones Bangladesh plans to develop to attract investment to facilitate both national economic growth and promote regional cooperation in the Bay of Bengal region.

U Kyaw Myaing of the Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies (MISIS) argued peace building and restoration of normalcy holds the key to developing land connectivity in BIMSTEC.

“If frontier regions of Myanmar or Northeast India remain disturbed, how can land corridors be developed through these regions? That is why the Aung Sang Suu KYi government is giving so much importance to the peace process in Myanmar,” he said.

Chandan Kumar Dey, joint secretary of Bangladesh’s Road Transport and Highways Division, detailed the national plans for roads and highways development and how they were being developed to link up to regional highways.

“But we have some missing links with Myanmar and we want to work with them to create roads in these missing links so that we can reach Bangkok from Bangladesh,” Dey said.

Admiral Jayantha Colombage, director Centre for Indo Lanka Initiatives of the Pathfinder Foundation, described the challenges of BIMSTEC connectivity.

“The Indian Ocean has become the most militarised and nuclearised zone in the world due to Big Power competition. That creates an adverse impact on regional cooperation and affects groupings like BIMSTEC,” Colombage said.

Syed Monowar Hussain, former director of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, stressed that river transport offered great prospect for regional connectivity in the Bay of Bengal region.

“Bangladesh with its huge river network and being the link region of South and South-East holds the key to connectivity in BIMSTEC,” he said.

The conference was part of BIMSTEC’s series of events this year marking its 20th anniversary. bdnews24.com is its media partner.