At Thimphu, Butan
The Fourth Meeting of the BIMSTEC Network of Policy Think Tanks (BNPTT) was held on 27-28 Decemebr 2018 in Thimphu, Bhutan at the invitation of the Royal Government of Bhutan. BNPTT Members from all the BIMSTEC Member States participated in the Meeting. The Secretariat was well represented by Mr. Kunzang N. Tshering and Mr. Han Thein Kyaw, Directors at the BIMSTEC Secretariat.
The BNPTT was established in 2010 as a Track-II forum, comprising of the following Constituent Members to promote the People-to-People Contact among BIMSTEC Member States:
- Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Bangladesh
- Royal Institute for Governance & Strategic Studies (RIGSS), Bhutan
- Research & Information Systems for Developing Countries (RIS), India
- Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies (MISIS), Myanmar
- Centre for Economic and Development Administration (CEDA), Nepal
- Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Sri Lanka
- Indian Studies Centre (ISC), Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
Delegates from the BIMSTEC Member States at the 4th BNPTT Meeting in Thimphu with the Chief Guest Dasho Karma Ura, President of the Center for Bhutan & GNH Research Studies (CB-GNHS)
The 4th BNPTT Meeting noted with satisfaction the past work of the BNPTT towards strengthening of the BIMSTEC cooperation. The meeting welcomed the 4th Summit Declaration adopted in Kathmandu, Nepal on 31st August 2018 and recommended to use the Declaration as the guiding document to further the cooperation among the Member States.
The Meeting also welcomed the initiative of rationalization of the existing BIMSTEC sectors of cooperation. However, the Meeting felt that such effort should specify the priority areas rather than simply regrouping them under the five pillars.
Further, the BNPTT Members agreed to produce innovative ideas and pragmatic recommendations to facilitate early realization of the Summit Declarations and to continue dialogue on setting up of the Trust Fund for financing the BNPTT prioritized projects with possible support from the Member States, as well as from ADB and other multilateral organizations with similar mandate.
Since its inception, the BNPTT has held 4 Meetings in India (2010), Thailand (2015), Bangladesh (2017) and Bhutan (2018). India will be hosting the 5th Meeting in 2019.
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