BIMSTEC Cooperation Report 2008

The BIMSTEC economies have made substantial output gains in recent years, expanding at rates far exceeding the global averages. At the same time, there is no denying that what it has achieved in just 11 years of its existence has not been inconsiderable. Trade and FDI flows have expanded rapidly in the region, besides other remarkable achievements on the economics front. The region has made impressive strides in human development, but needs increased effort to catch up with the other regions of the globe and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Its integration with the global economy has opened new opportunities and challenges. However, lately, the region faces a new threat of a slowdown in growth in the wakes of the global financial crisis. The point that CSIRD and ICC have tried to make in this Report is that BIMSTEC can face these challenges much more effectively if it could achieve deeper regional integration. The Report provides specific proposals in the fields of trade and investment, infrastructure, energy, tourism, fisheries, and small and medium enterprises – all oriented towards intensifying the process of such regional cooperation. BIMSTEC as a regional bloc can be an effective tool in addressing poverty and energy shortage, and ensuring that no country is left behind, that landlocked regions/countries have free and full access to markets, and that peace and stability are promoted. One of the key points made in the Report has been that such regional integration has to ensure "inclusive" economic growth. That, in a word, is its key word. The Report is an assertion of the need, in fact, the inescapability, of greater people-to-people and business contacts through improved connectivity and business environment, and implementation of the BIMSTEC Free Trade Agreement (BFTA). These initiatives would help increase investment and growth by reducing the infrastructure constraint and by lowering trade costs. A stronger BIMSTEC would also mean a more stable and prosperous Asia. The BIMSTEC Cooperation Report has been prepared by CSIRD and ICC on the occasion of the 2nd BIMSTEC Summit 2008. it has been compiled with painstaking effort by a team of dedicated researchers, ably backed by a hard-working field staff. It is hoped that policymakers, academics, businesspersons, and research scholars will find the Report an invaluable resource material for information, ideas and policies. Above all, we would consider our effort more than rewarded if it helps to contribute, even in a small way, to promoting a deeper understanding of the process of economic cooperation and integration in BIMSTEC and also in Asia.