BIMSTEC meeting decides to strengthen tourism cooperation

TravelBizNews —

Kathmandu:  Tour operators of BIMSTEC countries have decided to strengthen mutual cooperation to develop tourism in the member countries.

The first meeting of Network of BIMSTEC Tour Operators, concluded in New Delhi on Saturday, discussed various issues and problems concerning travel and tourism.

BIMSTEC Tour Operators discussed issues of  preparing a common tour package, setting up hospitality desk at the airports of all member states, visa procedures  for citizens of member states to increase travel , according to Acting Director General of Department of Tourism ( Nepal ) Durga Dutta Dhakal .

Acting Director General Dhakal , President of Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO),  promoter  of Buddhist Circuits Bikram Pandey ,managing director of Natraj Tours Shikhar Prasai and Laxmi Sharma participated in the BIMSTEC meeting .

The next meeting of Network of BIMSTEC Tour Operators will be held in Sri Lanka.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization comprising seven member states lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity.

 It constitutes seven member states: five from South Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and two from Southeast Asia, including Myanmar and Thailand.

 Initially, the economic bloc was formed with four Member States with the acronym ‘BIST-EC’ (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation). Following the inclusion of Myanmar on 22 December 1997 during a special Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok, the Group was renamed ‘BIMST-EC’ (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation).

With the admission of Nepal and Bhutan at the 6th Ministerial Meeting (February 2004, Thailand), the name of the grouping was changed to ‘Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation’ (BIMSTEC).

BIMSTEC has also established a platform for intra-regional cooperation between SAARC and ASEAN members.

The BIMSTEC region is home to around 1.5 billion people which constitute around 22% of the global population with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of 2.7 trillion economy according to BIMSTEC secretariat.

July 8, 2017