Union Minister for International Cooperation U Ko Ko Hlaing attends 17th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting

U KO KO HLAING, Union Minister for International Cooperation, attended  the  17th    BIMSTEC  Ministerial  Meeting,  held  via  video conference yesterday at 4 pm from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nay Pyi Taw.

The   Meeting   was   chaired  by  Mr  Dinesh  Gunawardena, Foreign Minister of the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, and attended by Foreign Ministers  from  the  BIMSTEC  Mem-ber States, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand, and the Secretary-General of BIMSTEC.

At the meeting, Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka delivered opening remarks and the BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers delivered the statements.

In his statement, Union Min-ister U Ko Ko Hlaing, among others, stated that it was necessary for  BIMSTEC to  overcome  the  challenges through cooperation and collective efforts.

He stressed that economic cooperation  and  resumption  of  safe regional transport connectivity should be given the utmost priority of the BIMSTEC mechanism in post-COVID-19 era.

He suggested to intensify cooperation in the agriculture sector for regional food security as well as to enhance cooperation in energy sector.

He  also  stressed  the  incorporation  of  the  poverty  alleviation  element  in  BIMSTEC’s  post-COVID-19  cooperation  activities.

He also informed the meeting  that  under  the  initiative  of  Myanmar,  the  first-ever  BIMS-TEC  Annual  Drug  Report-2019  had been published and appreci-ated all Member States for their contribution.

He further highlighted that the BIMSTEC Charter, which is to be signed at the forthcoming 5th  BIMSTEC  Summit,  would  not  only  be  the  opening  of  the  new  chapter  of  rules-based  cooperation  but  also  reaffirm  the  well-established  principles  of  BIMSTEC such as non-interfer-ence in internal affairs, peaceful co-existence, mutual respect and mutual  benefit  and  consensus.  He  reiterated  Myanmar’s  firm  commitments to fully cooperate with the Member States towards a “Peaceful, Prosperous and Sus-tainable Bay of Bengal Region”.

At  the  meeting,  the  Ministers  reviewed  developments  in  14  sectors  of  cooperation  and  exchanged  views  on  the  future  direction of BIMSTEC.

The Ministers  discussed  and approved the outcome documents to be adopted/signed at the  upcoming  Fifth  BIMSTEC  Summit.

The Joint Statement of the Seventeenth  BIMSTEC  Ministerial Meeting was issued at the end of the Meeting.

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MNA