On 29 February 2024, the Department of Information, together with the Department of International Economic Affairs, organised the first BIMSTEC Media Focus Group briefing by H.E. Mr. Indra Mani Pandey, BIMSTEC Secretary-General, and Mr. Cherdchai Chaivaivid, Director-General of the Department of International Economic Affairs at Buakaew Room, MFA, to highlight the importance and directions to propel the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). There were nearly 30 members of the media, both from Thai and international news agencies, attended.

The briefing was held as Thailand has assumed the role as BIMSTEC chairman since 30 March 2022 and planned to host the Summit meeting later this year. BIMSTEC is the cooperation framework that connects South Asia with South East Asia to cooperate in various aspects, e.g. economic, tourism, public health, climate change, natural disasters, etc. The briefing also coincided with the introductory visit to Thailand by the new BIMSTEC Secretary-General upon his assumption of duty, after a coutersy call to H.E. Mr. Parnpree Bahiddha-nukara, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The Director-General of the Department of International Economic Affairs emphasised that as BIMSTEC Chair, Thailand has strengthened relations between member countries, with the readiness to play an important role in building strategic balance under the cooperation framework, especially with India, who has a leading role and a prominent diplomatic operational approach in the region. In addition, Thailand also propels the Prosperous, Resilient and Open BIMSTEC (PRO BIMSTEC) concept during her chairmanship. The concept stresses on economic recovery through comprehensive connectivity upgrade, regional security consolidation through strengthening food and public health security. The DG also mentioned BIMSTEC Bangkok Vision 2030, which should be one of the key discussions during the Summit to determine future directions, goals, and important issues. The BIMSTEC Secretary-General commended Thailand’s role as BIMSTEC chair for the attempts to revive the importance of BIMSTEC. He also stressed on 7 cooperation sectors that each member is a lead country in, namely, (1) Bangladesh: trade, investment, and development; (2) Bhutan: environment and climate change; (3) India: security; (4) Myanmar: agriculture and food security; (5) Nepal: people-to-people contact; (6) Sri Lanka: science, technology, and innovation; and (7) Thailand: connectivity.