Monday, December 19 2005 20:02 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Dhaka: Regional solidarity is essential to face socio-economic challenges stemming from globalisation, Bangladesh's Prime Minister Khaleda Zia said today (Dec 19, 2005).

Inaugurating a day-long ministerial meeting of BIMSTEC sub-regional group here, she said, "to sustain development, our economies must grow together. Our strategies should be aimed at equitable growth. Our motto should be mutual benefit. Our guiding force should be regional solidarity".

Foreign and Trade Ministers of BIMSTEC grouping - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand are attending the meeting.

They would take decisions on the recommendations made by BIMSTEC senior officials yesterday on six core areas of cooperation--trade and investment, transport and communications, energy, tourism, technology and agriculture.

She expressed the hope that BIMSTEC-FTA would be operational from July 1, 2006, adding, "this will be vital in promoting our growing sectors, particularly those facing the challenges of globalization".

She said the FTA, however, should be attuned to meeting the needs and constraints of the least developed member-states of the group.

The inaugural session was attended by Indian State Minister for External Affairs E. Ahamed, Bhutanese Trade and Industry Minister Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba, Myanmar Foreign Minister U Nyan Win, Nepalese Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey, Thai Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon and Sri Lankan Additional Secretary Karunatilaka Amunugama.

Zia also called for giving priority to social issues as she said economic development cannot be meaningful without social progress.

"Our experience have shown that even at low level of income, it is possible to significantly improve standards of living, raise the overall human-development indices and bring people out of poverty," she added.

She proposed to host a ministerial meeting in Dhaka on Poverty Alleviation early next year so that concrete actions to collectively address the problem in BIMSTEC countries could be devised.

On the necessity of the public-private partnership, she said the private sector must be the driving force in trade and investment.

"The prosperity of our region will depend largely on public-private creativity, their initiative and imaginative collaborations," she said.

The governments would have the responsibility to create an enabling environment for the private sector to operate effectively, she added.

Zia called for easing the visa regime, saying that within the BIMSTEC region entrepreneurs should be able to move freely and utilize their strengths optimally.

"We must create an atmosphere for our investors and entrepreneurs to explore further areas of joint venture and cooperation," she added.

She called for implementing the measures identified by the cross-bay grouping since its inception in 1997 and consolidating the gains achieved so far.

On the 13th SAARC summit held in Dhaka last month, Zia said the meet was a turning point for regional cooperation in South Asia.