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Download PDF Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed has put emphasis on the necessity of large-scale regional cooperation to ensure better life for people through poverty alleviation in the Bimstec region.
“We must assess the challenges and opportunities for economic cooperation in our region and reaffirm our resolve for collaboration to strengthen Bimstec’s ability to find ways and means for addressing those challenges and opportunities efficiently and effectively,” he said.
The chief adviser was addressing the inauguration of the Bimstec Ministerial Conference on Poverty Alleviation at a city hotel yesterday.
In this context, Fakhruddin asked the member countries to consider the impacts of global warming and climate change and the increase in the prices of energy and food.
“Measures should be taken not only by the Bimstec countries but also by the developed nations in this regard,” the CA said, putting emphasis on sharing best experiences on poverty alleviation among the regional body.
The conference was held in Dhaka as per a decision of the 2004 Bangkok conference of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec).
The seven-member body comprising countries of South and Southeast Asia was set up in 1997.
“Many regions of the world have achieved fruitful results in trade, industry, tourism, monetary cooperation, technology transfer, and ultimately better lives for the people through regional collaborations,” the CA said.
“It is possible to have a far-reaching impact on poverty reduction and development through regional cooperation if we take advantage of the experiences of the member countries in a concerned way,” he noted.
The 2004 conference decided that a special ministerial meeting of Bimstec would be held on poverty alleviation.
He also recalled Bimstec’s objectives of intra-regional support in the form of training, research and development as well as beneficial cooperation in the areas of agriculture, industry, expansion of trade and investment, improving in communications and transport, and cooperation with other international organisations for the purposes of improving the living standard of people.
“The institutional framework of Bimstec member countries may be devised for intensive and extensive research investigation, and ultimately development of programmes incorporating best practice examples,” Fakhruddin said.
Finance Adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam, who presided over the conference, said the Bimstec region has the highest number of poor people in the world.
“The global price hike of essentials coupled with uncertainty of food availability would create problems for those who live below the poverty line,” he said, expressing the hope the ministerial conference would thrash out some significant ways of alleviating poverty.
Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury also spoke at the opening function. Planning Secretary Zafar Ahmed Chowdhury also addressed, welcoming the ministers and delegates.
Bimstec is a regional body of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand, representing 1.4 billion or 20 percent of the world population. The combined GDP of Bimstec countries is $750 billion.
Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam, Bhutan’s Finance Minister Lyonpo Wangdi Norbu, Indian State Minister for Rural Development Chandra Sekhar Sahu, Myanmar’s Deputy Minister for National Planning and Economic Development Col Thuyain Zaw, Nepal’s National Planning Commission member Dr Posh Raj Pandey, Sri Lanka’s Minister for Nation Building Estate Infrastructure Development Slinda Dissanayake, and Thailand’s Social Development and Human Security Minister Chavarat Charnvirat attended the conference.
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