The 3rd Meeting of the Eminent Persons’ Group (EPG) on Future Directions of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) was held on 12-13 May 2024. The Meeting was held at the BIMSTEC Secretariat in Dhaka, Bangladesh and chaired by Dr. Soonthorn Chaiyindeepum, member of EPG from Thailand. Thailand is the current Chair of BIMSTEC.

The EPG has been entrusted with the task of making recommendations to reform, revitalise and repurpose BIMSTEC in order to foster a prosperous, resilient and developed Bay of Bengal region. The establishment of the EPG serves as a testament to BIMSTEC’s commitment to take requisite steps to foster and deepen regional cooperation with a view to promote sustainable and security of its member States, said a BIMSTEC press release.

During the two-day long Meeting, the EPG engaged in discussions on Bangkok Vision 2030; alignment of the BIMSTEC’s Agenda with the Agenda 2030 of Sustainable Development Goals; and the current status of regional cooperation within BIMSTEC in Sectors such as agriculture and food security, people-to-people contact and connectivity.

The Fourth Meeting of the Eminent Persons’ Group (EPG) on Future Directions of BIMSTEC will be held in Dhaka on 23-25 June 2024; the first and second Meetings were held in Dhaka on 25 January 2024 and 11-12 March 2024 respectively. The EPG is committed to submit its Report to BIMSTEC Leaders at the Sixth BIMSTEC Summit.

Furthermore, the EPG held interactions with the Ambassadors and High Commissioners of BIMSTEC member States in Dhaka as well as the BIMSTEC Permanent Working Committee. The EPG also met in a retreat session.

The members of EPG from 6 BIMSTEC member States participated in the Meeting.

Navalsang Parmar (Dhaka)