Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey (File photo)

Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey (File photo)
Foreign Minister (FM), Ramesh Nath Pandey, has said that regional transportation and communication linkages, which have found due importance in BIMSTEC activities will certainly boost economic activities, including trade and tourism and people-to-people contact throughout the region.

Addressing the concluding session of the 8th BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in Dhaka Monday, minister Pandey expressed the hope that transport and communication linkages would contribute to realising our desire to make Nepal a transit point between the two huge markets—China and India, reports The Rising Nepal.

Expressing satisfaction over the opportunity provided to Nepal to host the 2nd Roundtable and Workshop of Tourism Ministers in 2006, he noted that this would give Nepal an opportunity to welcome distinguished guests from the region to experience adventure and eco-tourism, for which it proposed to become chair country, Pandey said.

“Poverty is our concern, which has been duly incorporated in the BIMSTEC agenda,” he said and added, “We also need to enhance private sector cooperation in the region, as they constitute the engine of growth.”

The idea of cooperation with partners outside the region will certainly create synergies for the benefit of our region, Pandey added.

Highlighting the fact that Nepal attaches high importance to BIMSTEC and is fully committed to making it a success, he said that Nepal being an Least Developed Country (LDC) is very much appreciative of BIMSTEC members to underline the importance of special and differential treatment to LDCs in order to have their meaningful integration into the BIMSTEC.

The Ministerial Meeting has chalked out measures for future direction of BIMSTEC. One of the important initiatives taken in this regard is the setting up of an inter-governmental experts’ group to finalise a draft Charter, Rules of Procedure powers and functions of a permanent Secretariat of BIMSTEC.

BIMSTEC, which was established in 1997 groups Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri-Lanka and Thailand with the aim of creating and enabling environment for rapid economic development.