Bangkok, April 4 (AseanAll) — On April 4, 2025, at the Shangri-la Hotel Bangkok, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra presided over the 6th Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit and related meetings. This is the first onsite BIMSTEC Summit in 7 years.
The 6th BIMSTEC Summit was hosted by Thailand, and were attended by Chief Adviser of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Professor Muhammad Yunus; Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bhutan Dasho Tshering Tobgay; Prime Minister of the Republic of India Narendra Modi; Chairman of the State Administration Council, Prime Minister of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar Senior General Min Aung Hlaing; Prime Minister of Nepal Rt. K P Sharma Oli; Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Dr. Harini Amarasuriya; and the Prime Minister of Thailand.
Prior to the summit, the Thai Prime Minister had a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Min Aung Hlaing of Myanmar who expressed profound appreciation toward the royal benevolence of His and Her Majesties the King and Queen for bestowing humanitarian aid, including food and goods, for quake-affected victims in Myanmar on April 1.
The two leaders took the occasion to discuss cooperation in disaster prevention and the fight against cross-border crimes, drugs and illegal trade, especially cooperation in suppressing call center gangs and online scams, and in sending fraud victims back to their home countries. Thailand's decisive measures against call center gangs have led to significant reduction in the number of fraudulent text messages and phone calls. The Prime Minister has also ordered security authorities to continue to suppress cybercrime.
Both the leaders also place importance on the implementation of the “Clear Sky Strategy” to prevent and solve transboundary haze, PM2.5, and wildfire through the joint effort and cooperation of Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand. The implementation has proved successful so far with the reduction of hotspots and PM2.5 particulates. Thailand and Myanmar are also working together to prevent flood before the rainy season comes by dredging and removing obstacles in water sources and rivers that run between the two countries.
Thailand agreed to share knowledge with Myanmar on modern agriculture, i.e. cultivation of maize that will be harmless to the nature and reduce crop burning. Knowledge on livestock farming (i.e., chickens, cows and pigs) will also be transferred to increase income for the farmers.
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) was formed on June 6, 1997 under Thailand’s initiative in accordance with the “Look West Policy”. BIMSTEC currently has 7 areas of cooperation: (1) Trade, Investment and Development,
(2) Environment and Climate Change, (3) Security, (4) Agriculture and Food Security, (5) People-to-People Engagement, (6) Science, Technology and Innovation, and (7) Connectivity. Thailand took over the BIMSTEC Chair from Sri Lanka. Participation of leaders of all member countries at the 6th BIMSTEC Summit reflects strong commitment to promote economic and technical cooperation for the wellbeing of BIMSTEC’s combined 1.8 billion citizens.
