The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, New Delhi

Leaders of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) at a joint post summit press briefing yesterday said they have identified 13 areas of multi-sectoral regional cooperation and the seven member countries will be benefited from it.

Bangladesh Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed, Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and other BIMSTEC leaders attended the briefing held in the Durbar Hall of Hotel Taj Palace.

In his opening remarks, Dr Manmohan Singh said BIMSTEC is the bridge between SAARC and ASEAN and will help build people to people contact in the region.

He said India offers additional 150 scholarships in ITEC programme to the students of BIMSTEC region, which was 300 earlier.

Replying to a question, Dr Manmohan said setting up of a BIMSTEC Food Bank is under consideration, but before that agricultural research and productivity should be raised through regional cooperation.

The Indian Prime Minister said the 13 areas of cooperation included trade and investment, energy and food safety, fishing, agriculture, health, tourism, environment, counter-terrorism and culture.

He said a balanced development is possible through BIMSTEC initiatives and the countries can face global economic challenges jointly.

As a developing economy, these nations are not threatened by global financial crisis, but the developed nations should take care so that small economies are not hampered and the pace of MDGs remains smooth, he said.

Manmohan said BIMSTEC Business summit held on Wednesday here discussed energy, hydropower, agri- business, fisheries and transportation. President of Sri Lanka and prime ministers of Bhutan and Nepal also responded to the press.