4th Bimstec summit concludes

Kathmandu, Aug 31 (IANS) The Fourth Bimstec Summit concluded here on Friday after issuing an 18-point Kathmandu Declaration. The details of the declaration will be made public soon, an official said.

The member states also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of a Bimstec Gird Interconnection.

At the conclusion of the summit, Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Oli said: "This is my firm conviction that this summit has been a significant step towards making Bimstec a dynamic, effective and result-oriented organisation."

Bimstec came into existence on June 6, 1997, through the Bangkok Declaration.

It comprises seven countries lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal — Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The bloc brings together 1.6 billion people, or 22 per cent of the world’s population, and has a combined GDP of $2.8 trillion.