Agriculture is one of the 14 areas of BIMSTEC Cooperation. The sector is led by Myanmar.
The sector deepens its cooperation among the Member States through BIMSTEC Experts Group Meeting on Agricultural Cooperation (EGMAC) and conduct of other businesses related to this sector. So far, six EGMAC, two Workshops on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP Phase I & II), and a Workshop on improving Agricultural Trade and Investment had been held as detailed below:
1st BIMSTEC Expert Group Meeting on Agricultural Cooperation, 15-16 March 2007, Yangon, Myanmar
2nd BIMSTEC Expert Group Meeting on Agricultural Cooperation, 24-26 April 2008, New Delhi, India
3rd BIMSTEC Expert Group Meeting on Agricultural Cooperation, 22-23 November 2010, Kandy, Sri Lanka
4th BIMSTEC Expert Group Meeting on Agricultural Cooperation, 6-7 April 2015, Kathmandu, Nepal
5th BIMSTEC Expert Group Meeting on Agricultural Cooperation, 28-19 December 2016, Thimpu, Bhutan
Workshop on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP Phase I) including Organic Agriculture, 10-14 September 2012, Kanchanaburi, Thailand
Workshop on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP Phase II), 26-28 April 2016, Chonburi, Thailand.
The Fifth EGMAC has decided that the sector will hold Ministerial Level Meeting on Agriculture. Accordingly, Myanmar as the lead country has offered to host the first Meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture in 2018-2019.
Nine Common Projects under Agriculture sector
The 3rd BIMSTEC Expert Group Meeting on Agricultural Cooperation held in Kandy, Sri Lanka identified the following Nine (9) Common Projects for implementation under this sector:
1) Collaboration in research and development of power generation and utilization of alternative energy crops to promote cost effective bio-fuel production at community level;
2) Encouraging private sector participation, especially, in value-chain management for agricultural products;
3) Strengthening of Agriculture Statistical Information System and its networks;
4) Workshop on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP);
5) The development of Agricultural bio-technology including bio-safety;
6) Preventing and Control of trans-boundary animal diseases;
7) Affiliation of agricultural universities, veterinary universities, and agricultural research institutes;
8) Development of seed sector in BIMSTEC Member States;
9) Workshop(s) on improving Agricultural Trade and Investment.
Most of the identified Common Projects could not be implemented in the absence of any dedicated funds. The sixth EGMAC held in Chiang Rai, Thailand on 12-16 December 2017, has recommended that efforts need to be made to secure internal as well as external funding for the implementation of the Common Projects.
The Member States are currently considering creation of a Corpus Fund for the implementation of the projects as recommended by the recent meetings of the Experts Group on Agricultural Cooperation.
⇒ Agricultural information of the BIMSTEC Member States
(Last updated on 24 July 2018)