On 11 – 12 March 2024, H.E. Mr. Soonthorn Chaiyindeepum, Eminent Person from Thailand, chaired the Second Meeting of the Eminent Persons’ Group (EPG) on the Future Directions of BIMSTEC at the BIMSTEC Secretariat in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The Meeting was attended by the eminent persons from Member States to discuss recommendations for the future cooperation of BIMSTEC, building upon the first meeting on 25 January 2024.

The Meeting focused on ways to promote BIMSTEC’s institutional strength and foster cooperation across all 7 sectors, particularly strengthening the cooperation between BIMSTEC Core and Sectoral Mechanism, and promoting collaboration with external partners. The eminent persons were also briefed on the current status of the BIMSTEC cooperation such as Science, Technology and Innovation sector and Environment and Climate Change sector and discussed ways to advance the cooperation in the future.

The eminent persons also exchanged views with the representatives from the BIMSTEC Centre on Weather and Climate and the BIMSTEC Energy Centre on the functioning of the centres and provided recommendation to improve the operation of such centres.

BIMSTEC Eminent Persons Group results from an initiative of the BIMSTEC Leaders’ Retreat in 2016 in Goa, India, aiming at promoting BIMSTEC as a more result-oriented organization. The EPG is assigned to review the work of BIMSTEC and provide practical recommendations on the future directions of BIMSTEC that are aligned with the Bangkok Vision 2030.

More information about BIMSTEC can be retrieved from BIMSTEC Secretariat’s website at www.bimstec.org.