18th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting: MoFA Union Minister Participates Via Video Conference

Union Minister for Foreign Affairs U Wunna Maung Lwin participated in the 18thBIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting via video conference on Tuesday.

The Meeting in Colombo of Sri Lanka chaired by Foreign Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, and was attended by Ministers of Foreign Affairs/External Affairs of other BIMSTEC Member States, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Thailand, and the Secretary-General of BIMSTEC. At the Meeting, Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka made a welcome statement and BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers delivered their statements. In his statement, Union Minister U Wunna Maung Lwin stated that BIMSTEC has set its silver jubilee on 6th June of this year in promoting deeper cooperation among the Member States for their common goal of regional sustainable development.

He stressed that natural disasters, climate change, pandemic and the population growth have been negatively attributing food security of the region, and reaffirmed that Myanmar, the Lead Country of Agriculture and Food Security sector under BIMSTEC framework, to enhance close cooperation among the Member States in the agriculture, fisheries and livestock sectors in facilitating enhance production of healthy and nutritious food in the region. He highlighted that connectivity among the Member States plays vital role in regional socio-economic development and also that the BIMSTEC Master Plan for Transport Connectivity, to be adopted at the Fifth BIMSTEC Summit,  will strengthen not only regional integration, but also promotes intra-regional trade and investment.

The Union Minister also underscored that unity and close cooperation will be the great strength in suppressing terrorism and transnational crimes in the region. He mentioned that BIMSTEC region is prone to natural disasters and appreciated to India for offering trainings and hosting exercises like PANEX-21 for the advancement of disaster response and management skills of the Member States.

He suggested that collective efforts should be double-up for the enhancement of People-to-People Contact among the Member States which will nurture mutual understanding on different religions, cultures and customs. He also reiterated Myanmar’s firm commitments of active cooperation adhering to the principles enshrined in the BIMSTEC Charter such as sovereign equality, non-interference in internal affairs, peaceful co-existence, mutual respect and the consensus.

At this Meeting, the Ministers discussed the status of important documents envisaged to be adopted/ signed at the Fifth BIMSTEC Summit and adopted the Report of the 18th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting by consensus.

The Foreign Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka handed over the chairmanship of the BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand.