UNB, Nay Pyi Taw :
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday urged all the Bimstec member countries for intensifying their collective efforts to make the region secure, stable and prosperous one through combatting poverty and other challenges.
“I call upon the fraternal members of Bimstec to extend all cooperation in ful filling our pledge to becoming a secure, stable and prosperous region where all our people will enjoy a life of dignity, security and peace,” she said while delivering her speech at the third Bimstec Summit in the Myanmar capital of Nay Pyi Taw.
Leaders from other Bimstec (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) member countries — India, Bhutan, host Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand, — joined the summit held with Myanmar President U Thein Sein in the chair.
Sheikh Hasina, on her first foreign trip after the formation of her new government on January 12 last, stressed that Bimstec needs to move forward with concerted efforts based on mutual respect and trust for mutual and equitable sharing of benefits.
In this globalised world, she said, the Bimstec members countries need to work with collective strength and capabilities in utilising its combined natural endowments for beneficial economic integration and shared prosperity. Pointing to the growing demand for energy and power, she said that the intensive economic activity generated at this time would obviously raise the demand for energy, and this would pose a challenge to the efforts to secure a steady supply of energy at affordable prices.
“We’ll need to adopt sustainable energy development programmes as well as develop regional energy grids and energy markets,” she told her audience. In this connection, Hasina said that the huge untapped energy potentials, particularly the hydropower would need to be developed on bilateral or trilateral basis for the optimum utilisation through collaborative projects.
The Prime Minister said that the recent experience of cross-border power sharing between Bangladesh and India will help finalise plans covering these efforts.
Hasina stressed the need for mobilising the collective efforts to monitor, and take a unified stand to seriously consider the adverse impacts of climate change. Global assessments indicate that natural disasters in the region would increase in frequency and intensity, she said adding that a rise in 1 degree Celsius due to global warming will submerge one-fifth of Bangladesh, forcing 30 million people to become ‘climate migrants’.
Hasina said that in the 64th UNGA and every year, thereafter, she had called for a legal framework to ensure social, cultural, and economic rehabilitation of climate migrants.
“Other Bimstec members may also face similar situation, and therefore, voice their support to our proposal,” she requested.
The Prime Minister went on saying, “Sustainable development and reduction of poverty also demand beneficial conservation, development and tapping of water resources in the region. This is also vital for agriculture and food security.”
Since the countries of the region are sometimes affected with production shortfall in key cereals, modalities are also needed to be found for the sharing of water resources, especially of the common rivers, she mentioned.
For example, Hasina said, Bangladesh and India are sharing the water of the Ganges River signing the 30-year Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, with others to follow soon.
“Bimstec could also explore our potentials in fisheries, livestock and horticulture,” she said.
About ensuring food security, Hasina said that Bimstec should develop an intra-regional food support mechanism to help countries overcome short-term difficulties, explore ways for increased investments in the farm sector and towards development and transfer of appropriate, climate resilient technology to increase agriculture productivity in the members countries, and facilitate innovative initiatives in priority areas of farm mechanisation, innovative agriculture services, water productivity and farming.
The Prime Minister said that she was happy that Dhaka was chosen for Bimstec’s Permanent Secretariat, and thanked all again for the decision, and assured of providing Bangladesh’s all support for its operation and activities. “We’re also waiting to welcome the first Secretary-General meeting in Dhaka. We also thank our friend Thailand for its continued valuable institutional support to Bimstec.”
About the success of her government in the last five years for alleviating poverty, she said it has so far been successful in reducing poverty level from 40 percent to 26 percent in the last five years. “Our aim is to have a poverty-free Bangladesh by 2021.”
She apprised that Bangladesh, from 2009 to 2013, maintained a GDP growth rate of over 6 percent with 50 million people joining the middle-income group. Our export earnings during the period have increased by 107 percent, while remittances by 62 percent, foreign currency reserve by 217 percent and power capacity by 109 percent, Hasina said.
“We’re also on track in our MDGs. Thus, Bangladesh is often mentioned as a ‘Model of Economic Development,” she told the summit.
