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LEADERS of seven nations who are trying to build a strong bridge between South Asia and Southeast Asia regions under the banner of BIMST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand- Economic Cooperation) ended Saturday their two-day summit meeting in the Thai capital -- Bangkok. The first-ever summit since the BIMST-EC was founded in 1997 was designed to push on with closer economic cooperation, particularly in trade, among the countries of the two regions that represent more than 1.3 billion people.
The seven years old BIMST-EC could not make much headway in raising the level of economic cooperation among its members. But the signing of a framework agreement early this year by the member nations to create a free trade area among BIMST-EC nations was the first concrete step towards a meaningful cooperation. India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand and two new members -- Bhutan and Nepal -- signed the agreement. But Bangladesh at the last moment decided not to sign it following a row over the issue of compensation for lost tariff. However, it did sign the agreement later. Signing of agreements between nations has been a usual feature of global diplomacy. But not many of such agreements are truly functional and pursued with determination by their signatories. The summit meeting of the BIMST-EC has, apparently, been organised to send a clear and strong message that the grouping means business and is ready to go through the tortuous process of building up a free trade area by 2017. Such an emphasis on the part of the BIMST-EC leaders may not be without a basis since there exists a huge scope for expanding trade cooperation among its member-nations. The trade among the group members now stands around 4.0 per cent of their total trade, which is much below their actual potentials.
Regional trade groupings and bilateral free trade deals have, of late, become handy tools for boosting trade and economic cooperation among countries, both rich and poor. The pace of striking such kinds of deals has rather intensified due to the fading prospects for having a multilateral framework for international trade under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Nothing could have been better than such a framework that fairly protects the interests of all stakeholders in the global trade. But, unfortunately, the developed countries, which have the means and strength to help the poor developing countries, have been rather protective of their own markets. Those countries are trying to continue with all types of tariff as well as non- and para-tariff barriers to insulate their markets from outside invasion. In such a situation, bilateral and regional free trade deals are turning out to be attractive options.
The BIMST-EC countries do need to understand the changing global trade reality and try their best to tap all the potentials to make the grouping strong and effective. For Bangladesh, the BIMST-EC fits in well with its 'Look East' policy. Though the grouping is dominated by South Asian nations, Thailand, which can be considered the gateway to the East, has been instrumental in its formation. Using the BIMST-EC as a plank, Bangladesh, if it desires so, can expand its trade and other economic interests in other Southeast Asian countries.
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