The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has emphasized its strong emphasis on partnerships with regional organizations like BIMSTEC by reiterating its commitment to strengthening cooperation with BIMSTEC and investigating new routes of engagement.
According to a BIMSTEC press release released today, the guarantee was given when BIMSTEC Secretary General Indra Mani Pandey met with ADB President Masato Kanda and other top management officials during his visit to Manila on November 6-7.
It further stated that the talks examined current cooperation and looked at measures to increase it in the future.
Secretary General Pandey expressed gratitude for ADB’s longstanding assistance in creating important regional frameworks, such as the BIMSTEC Transport Infrastructure and Logistics Study, Grid Interconnection Master Plan, and BIMSTEC Master Plan for Transport Connectivity, in addition to a number of capacity-building initiatives.
ADB President Kanda reaffirmed ADB’s willingness to collaborate closely with BIMSTEC to achieve common objectives of sustainable development, resilience, and prosperity throughout the Bay of Bengal region while expressing pleasure with the partnership’s progress.
In separate discussions with ADB Vice Presidents Fatima Yasmin (Sectors and Themes) and Yingming Yang (South, Central, and West Asia), both parties decided to further collaboration in key areas of shared interest.
They emphasized how ADB’s regional strategy and BIMSTEC’s development objective are increasingly aligning.
In order to increase participation, Pandey also advocated for increasing funding for technical assistance and taking project-based cooperation into consideration.
He emphasized that promoting inclusive growth and regional integration requires collaboration between BIMSTEC and ADB.
The Philippine Foreign Secretary Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro received a courtesy call from the BIMSTEC Secretary General while she was in Manila, during which she was informed about the advancement of regional cooperation under BIMSTEC. As the Philippines gets ready to take over as ASEAN Chairman in 2026, they talked about future cooperation between BIMSTEC and ASEAN.
BIMSTEC brings together seven member countries of the Bay of Bengal region-Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand-to promote cooperation across sectors including connectivity, trade, energy, climate resilience, and human resource development.
