Minutes of the First Meeting of the Joint Study Group of Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM EC)
1. On 18-19 Dec. 2013, the First Joint Study Group (JSG) Meeting of Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (hereafter referred to as “the Corridor” or BCIM-EC) was held in Kunming, China. Members of the JSG and representatives from relevant government Ministries/Departments, research institutions and enterprises attended the meeting. The meeting was held in a friendly and an interactive environment. The successful convening of the 1st JSG Meeting of BCIM-EC marked the official launch of the inter governmental process of BCIM-EC.
2. All delegations agreed that the four delegations are located in the same neighborhood and share commonalities in terms of history and culture. The four delegations are committed to economic and social development and poverty alleviation. The development of the Corridor would play a significant role in strengthening cooperation among and within the BCIM delegations to achieve respective development objectives.
3. The four delegations agreed on the principles of mutual trust and respect, mutual interest, equitable sharing of mutual benefits, pragmatism, effectiveness, consensus-building and securing win-win outcomes. Based on these, the four delegations jointly initiated the development of the BCIM Economic Corridor which will, inter alia, advance multi-modal connectivity, harness the economic complementarities, promote investment and trade and facilitate people-to-people contacts. These would enhance mutual understanding and trust and further unlock vast economic potential, and secure lasting peace, stability and prosperity for the people in these delegations and in the region.
4. In the meeting, discussions were conducted with focus on the summary of the previous research outcomes and experience of the previous achievements, lessons learnt from beyond the region in areas of mechanism-building for joint studies. Delegates from the BCIM delegations witnessed the signing of the Minutes of the meeting and the Program of the Joint Study Group. The following are the highlights of the discussions:
A. Summary of the previous studies and achievements on the BCIM regional cooperation:
The four delegations jointly summarized previous studies and achievements on BCIM Regional Forum since 1999. The four delegations agreed that, under the Forum, fruitful and effective discussions had been conducted and a series of important consensus had been reached in promoting connectivity, economic and trade cooperation and people-to-people contacts, which have laid a solid foundation for the development of BCIM Economic Corridor.
B. Learning from best practices of multilateral and regional cooperation mechanisms
Representatives from international organizations – ADB and UNESCAP – presented experiences on multilateral cooperation mechanisms relevant to this region, such as the Greater Mekong Sub-regional economic cooperation mechanism (GMS). All delegations agreed that in the development of the BCIM Economic Corridor, the delegations should fully learn from the best practices of other regional cooperation mechanisms, so as to establish a regional cooperative mechanism.
C. Conceptualization and Cooperation Areas of BCIM Economic Corridor
After preliminary discussions, all delegations agreed that the proposed Corridor could run from Kunming (China) in the east to Kolkata (India) in the west, broadly spanning the region, including Mandalay (Myanmar), Dhaka and Chittagong (Bangladesh) and other major cities and ports as key nodes. With the linkages of transport, energy and telecommunication networks, the Corridor will form a thriving economic belt that will promote common development of areas along the Corridor.
Cooperative undertakings may include, but not limited to, the following areas:
(i) Physical connectivity: Improve infrastructure building and establish appropriate legal and regulatory framework for development of multi-modal transport (road, rail, waterways, airways) by developing and accelerating transportation inter-connectivity. At the same time, collaboration would need to be augmented in energy and power sectors to tap substantial opportunities. Development of tele-communication networking would also need to be addressed.
(ii)Trade in goods, services and investment, including finance: Promote greater participation of public and private sector towards facilitating intra-regional investments. This would also include trade-facilitation measures for flow of goods and services along the Corridor to a significant scale.
(iii)Environmentally sustainable development: Actively advance cooperation in agriculture and environmental industries to create a basis for sustainable development and livelihoods for the benefit of the people and reduce poverty along the Corridor. Also, water resources may be conserved, developed and tapped beneficially. Initiatives may also be undertaken to tackle climate change challenges facing the Corridor.
(iv)People-to-people contacts: Enhance exchanges and cooperation in areas, such as education, science and technology, culture, healthcare, sports as well as human resource development. Further, infrastructure facilities maybe strengthened and the tourism potential of the region be explored to create a BCIM tourism circle.
All delegations discussed and agreed to explore the possibilities of initiating early-harvest projects in the identified priority areas in order to demonstrate beneficial impacts and build confidence in the success of the Corridor.
4. Mechanism building for BCIM Economic Corridor
All delegations agreed to establish, at a senior-official level, a Joint Working Group (JWG) to actively explore the possibility of improving the working mechanism at the earliest date.
5. Joint Study on BCIM Economic Corridor
All delegations agreed to the “Joint Study Program of Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor”. The Program of the JSG is annexed to the Minutes.
The Minutes was agreed and signed by the heads of the delegations of Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar, on the 19th day of December2013, in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.
Delegation of Bangladesh
Delegation of China
Delegation of India
Delegation of Myanmar
Annex
Joint Study Program of Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor
I. Objectives of joint study
The joint study aims to arrive at a consensus report on the way forward for the proposed Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM-EC). The joint study group report with recommendations on inter-governmental cooperation shall be presented to the respective governments for their consideration/ collective decision.
II. Organization and modality of joint study
Based on the guiding principles of mutual trust and respect, mutual interest, pragmatism, equitable sharing of mutual benefits and consensus building, the four countries have constituted a joint study group with experts drawn from various fields.
In the course of its study, the joint study group may, inter alia, assess earlier work done within and beyond the region, consult and seek views, conduct field studies, hold workshops and site visits, carry out research and assessments and also co-opt subject or field experts and officials, as and when required, and to the extent possible.
Each of the four countries after mutual consultation and agreement may undertake relevant studies/research on all or a select few of the themes.
III. Outline of joint study
Part I Overview
Chapter 1 Objectives of BCIM economic corridor
Chapter 2 Concept, scope, and elements of BCIM Economic Corridor
Chapter 3 Principles and modalities of cooperation
Part II Areas and Priorities
Chapter4 Connectivity
Chapter 5 Energy
Chapter 6 Investment and financing
Chapter 7 Trade in goods and services, and trade facilitation
Chapter8 Social and human development and poverty alleviation
Chapter 9 Sustainable development
Chapter 10 People-to people contact
Part III Institutional Arrangement
Chapter 11 Framework of cooperation
Chapter 12 Summary and recommendations
IV. Expenditure
Subject to the approval of respective governments, each country will be responsible for expenses related to research, field studies, workshops carried out by their experts and consultants. Organizational expenses for hosting the joint study group meeting will be met by the host country. The host country may seek necessary assistance from other sources for this purpose, if required.
V. Schedule of work
1. December 2013: decide on the primary framework and work distribution; and submit to respective Governments
2. End-January2014: Mutually agreed outline of on all chapters of the study is circulated
3. End-June 2014: Draft country reports are completed and the 2nd JSG meeting is convened in Bangladesh to arrive at an agreement on synthesizing the report.
4. End-July 2014: Synthesis of different chapters are completed based on the division of work
5. End-September 2014: Final consolidated synthesis report is completed and submitted to respective governments for their consideration.
6. End-December 2014 (preferably): 3rd JSG meeting to take place in India wherein the final report will be adopted and signing of the inter-governmental cooperation framework will take place.
VI. Focal Points of contact
Bangladesh Prof. Mustafizur Rahman
E-mail: [email protected]
Tel: 0088-02-9141655
Mobile: 0088-01713011007
ChinaMr. Sun Xuegong
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 0086-6390 7215
Mobile: 0086-13661067215
India Prof. Patricia Uberoi
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 0091-11-2381 7663
Mobile: 0091-9818077681
Myanmar Mr. Htin Lynn
E-mail: [email protected]
Tel: 0095-67-412056
Source: http://www.indianembassy.org.cn/newsDetails.aspx?NewsId=455&BId=1