Statement by Honourable Foreign Minister Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba at the Twentieth BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand (03 April 2025)

Statement by Honourable Foreign Minister Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba at the Twentieth BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand

(03 April 2025)

Mr. Chair, His Excellency Maris Sangiampongsa, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand,

Honourable Ministers,

Mr. Secretary-General,

Distinguished Delegates,

Ladies and Gentlemen!

At the outset, I would like to express deep condolences, on behalf of the Government and people of Nepal as well as on my own, to the Government and people including bereaved families of Myanmar and Thailand on the unfortunate loss of precious human lives and physical infrastructures due to recent earthquake. At this difficult hour, our prayers and thoughts are with Myanmar and Thai nations.

The Government of Nepal is sending a medical team as well as food items and other emergency supplies to support the efforts of Myanmar Government in providing relief to the affected people.      

I would like to express my profound appreciation and gratitude to His Excellency Maris Sangiampongsa, and the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand for the warm hospitality extended to my delegation and for outstanding arrangements put in place for this Meeting as well as the Summit.  

On behalf of the Government of Nepal and myself, let me commend Thailand’s role as Chair for its excellent stewardship of the BIMSTEC process over the past three years towards our shared development and prosperity.   

Our appreciation is equally due to the Secretary-General for his excellent leadership as well as his team at the Secretariat for their professional services.

Excellencies,

As an evolving forum for regional cooperation, BIMSTEC has championed the common aspiration of our people for a stable, integrated, resilient and prosperous Bay of Bengal region. It symbolizes a dazzling rainbow representing two dynamic regions of South Asia and Southeast Asia- each of its seven colours illuminating rich civilizations, cultures, histories, and ecological diversity.      

These unifiers have created a synergy to unlock the potential for economic prosperity of our people.

Over nearly three decades of our growing partnerships, we have nurtured bonds of solidarity, tackled challenges together, and built the institutional framework. The Kathmandu Summit was a landmark in our joint efforts to pave the path towards framing the BIMSTEC Charter and reprioritizing core sectors of cooperation.

Building on the founding Bangkok Declaration of 1997, BIMSTEC now has its own Charter that entered into force in May last year. The adoption of the Charter is a major milestone in institutionalizing BIMSTEC with clearly defined mandates and roles for various core mechanisms.

The objectives outlined in the Charter align well with cross-sectoral pillars of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are also reflected in the BIMSTEC Bangkok Vision, 2030- a vital policy framework being adopted by our Leaders tomorrow that envisions transforming the Bay of Bengal into a Prosperous, Resilient and Open region.

It is gratifying to note that the Eminent Persons’ Group (EPG) has produced a valuable report with constructive recommendations to make BIMSTEC a vibrant regional organization. We sincerely appreciate the EPG members for their commendable work.

On this score, I wish to underline the need for effective and expeditious implementation of the Bangkok Vision 2030 and EPG Report by devising pragmatic and actionable regional projects to our mutual benefits.

In the face of pressing challenges confronting member states, a more dynamic BIMSTEC is critically important.

Excellencies,

In the current situation of flux in geopolitics, a positive momentum in regional cooperation and partnerships among BIMSTEC Member States in areas of identified priority sectors is warranted.  

As the Bay of Bengal region is becoming more vulnerable to catastrophic impacts of climate change, natural disasters, environmental degradation and pollution, BIMSTEC cooperation on climate change and disaster preparedness can be instrumental in leveraging each other’s technical capabilities and financial resources including support from development partners for disaster response and mitigation.

We welcome India’s proposal to initiate establishing BIMSTEC Centre of Excellence in Disaster Management which will complement regional efforts in controlling and combating natural disasters. BIMSTEC Member States should also work together on setting up safe and resilient infrastructure for disaster prevention. BIMSTEC wide systems and standards must be set up for insurance of infrastructure prone to destruction by climate induced disaster. I am sure this Centre will be pioneering the use of AI in meeting these challenges.

I am glad to note that as the BIMSTEC Secretariat is expanding its relations with other regional and international organizations for mutually beneficial collaboration, it will pioneer solutions to all these new challenges.  

On another note, I would like to highlight the importance of regularity of BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers’ Retreat as it serves as an important platform for open and candid discussions on matters of common concerns within BIMSTEC format.

Let me stress here that such Retreats and Meetings on the sidelines of international conferences including UNGA should be continued.  

Distinguished Delegates,  

In view of the turbulence the world is facing today, the relevance of the theme “Prosperous, Resilient and Open BIMSTEC’ chosen for deliberations at the Summit cannot be overstated.

As a responsible member of the international community, Nepal attaches a great importance to regionalism as well as multilateralism under UN’s stewardship for building a peaceful, equitable, and inclusive regional and global order.

A key thrust of Nepal’s foreign policy on regionalism is to promote regional collaboration for deeper economic integration among member states with a view to achieving shared prosperity and environmental sustainability.

We remain actively engaged at both regional and global forums in strengthening peace, security, and sustainable development.

Nepal takes great pride in its contribution to regional and international peace as the largest troop-contributing country to UN peace-keeping missions across the globe.  

Today, the world we live in is in a flux.  

On one hand, a wave of regionalism and multilateralism is on a steady path of collaboration and cooperation, but on the other hand, economic nationalism is a strong policy temptation. Similarly, humanity has accumulated so much wealth that it has never seen before but it has failed miserably to solve the problem of inequalities, injustice and pervasive poverty.

In this context, robust, effective and reformed multilateralism and regional diplomacy are instrumental in combating these multi-dimensional challenges at national, regional and global levels.

Since joining BIMSTEC in 2004, Nepal has remained steadfastly committed to the vision, purposes and principles of BIMSTEC process.

As a Lead Country in People-to-People Contact Sector comprising Sub-Sectors of Culture, Tourism, and Poverty Alleviation, Nepal is committed to making best possible efforts to enhance regional collaboration in its lead sectors for the greater good of our people. Nepal is committed to establishing BIMSTEC Centre of Excellence on Culture and Tourism.

Against this backdrop, I would like to highlight the following actions to realize a Prosperous, Resilient and Open BIMSTEC:

First, we all must express a stronger political will and vision as a great force multiplier in making BIMSTEC objectives and its Vision 2030 a reality.

Second, we need to intensify integration of our region economically, socio-culturally, technologically, and physically through various connectivity frameworks while considering specific national circumstances, level of development and respective capabilities of Member States.

It is crucial to expedite establishment of BIMSTEC Free Trade Area, implement EPG Report and projects identified in BIMSTEC Master Plan for Transport Connectivity, advance BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection, and fully operationalize regional centres and entities.   

Maintaining macro-economic stability is essential while we focus on leveraging synergies and complementarities among Member States through collaborative strategies for resource utilization, workforce mobilization, policy alignment, trade and transit facilitation, energy cooperation, investment promotion, technology transfer, regional infrastructure development and integrated Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for e-governance services.

Third, BIMSTEC has to have a clear focus on security, especially to overcome challenges posed by human trafficking, narcotics smuggling and cyber security.

Fourth, BIMSTEC should expedite its plans for agriculture to ensure that the region becomes self-sufficient in food. Nepal is happy to be organizing the BIMSTEC Meeting of Agriculture Ministers in this coming week in Kathmandu.   

Fifth, as discussed in the Second BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers’ Retreat held in New Delhi last year, organizing sports and sporting activities can help foster people-to-people ties and a growing sense of community within BIMSTEC.

Sixth, we need to enhance and bolster our educational institutions by connecting universities and professional institutions in the region to produce high quality human resources for frontier research and increased productivity.

Seventh, in order to realize our demographic dividend, we need to improve access to quality healthcare services particularly for reducing maternal and infant morbidity and mortality, improve mental health and ensure that there is awareness and remedies available for both communicable and non-communicable diseases. We should definitely look into creating our own centers for combating climate change induced diseases and pandemics.

I am pleased to note that an Expert Group on Health has been set up and hope it works towards meeting the challenges in this domain.

Eighth, we need to prioritize the sharing of successful strategies for women’s empowerment, gender equality, and mainstreaming of women in governance, development and conflict management to address historical injustice and deliver on our promises of a better world. I am glad to note that an initiative on establishing an Expert Group on Women has been initiated to recommend relevant policy measures across priority areas within BIMSTEC. 

In the spirit of the above, we can transform the BIMSTEC region into a Prosperous, Resilient and Open region. Nepal is committed to advance the BIMSTEC process for our shared prosperity.

Before I conclude, I would like to remind Your Excellencies that the Government of Nepal has launched “Sagarmatha Sambaad” as a platform to discuss and develop collective responses to various pressing regional and global challenges including climate change and global governance reforms.

I take this opportunity to extend a sincere invitation to Your Excellencies to attend the first edition of “Sagarmatha Sambaad” which is scheduled to take place on 16-18 May in Kathmandu.   

Your gracious presence and valuable contribution to enrich vibrant discussions at the Sambaad will be critical in shaping a better future for our people and the planet.   

I look forward to welcoming you in Kathmandu soon.  

I thank you all. 

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