The Minister of State (I/C) for Shipping,Shri Mansukh Mandaviya will inauguratetomorrow the first ever‘BIMSTEC Ports’ Conclave’at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh to be held on   7-8 November 2019.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an International Organization involving a group of countries in the South Asia and South East Asia namely, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal. Delegates from the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, the Kingdom of Bhutan, the Republic of India, and the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Kingdom of Thailand. These BIMSTEC Countries will bea part of this conclave and will present their country’s perspective on BIMSTEC and regional ports.

The Ports’ First Conclave of BIMSTEC nations is expected to explore the possibility of increasing economic cooperation by furthering EXIM trade and coastal shipping.  The Conclave will also discuss on various investment opportunities, best practices adopted for productivity and safety at Ports. Senior officials from the Ports Sectorfrom all seven nations as well as from the Trade and various Shipping Associations will be participating in the two day conclave.

There will be five panel sessions during this conclave. On first day, first session will be on ‘Port led Industrial and Tourism Development’. This session aims to discuss mechanism to encourage tourism in the region and develop industrial clusters in close proximity to a Port.The diverse historical and cultural heritage of the BIMSTEC nations makes it an ideal destination for tourism, in which the ports plays a vital role for encouraging cruise tourism.

As the supply chain are necessitating expansion beyond national boundaries,the enlarging scope is resulting in increased cargo throughput, which is putting tremendous pressure on the existing port infrastructure. Adoption of new technological solutions to maximize efficiency and productivity by optimizing the available space, resources, time and energy is the need of hour. The second panel session will be on ‘Emergent Roles of Ports in the Global Supply Chain’, this session aims to discuss the emergent role of ports and terminals in the backdrop of the expanding supply chains and the solutions available.

The last panel session on first day will be on ‘Safe and Secure Ports’. This session aims to discuss the emerging threats and the safe guards against security threats, as ports are not only of vital commercial interest, but also a nation’s strategic assets.

On second day of the conclave, fourth panel session will be on ‘Ports Services: Delivering Value’. This session will provide a platform for discussion on various steps undertaken for improving the ease of doing business. The last panel session will be in ‘Green Port Operations’. In the light of the commitment to the environment and Paris Accord to mitigate climate change, the ports must adopt a sustainable operations model. This session aims to discuss the process, the technologies and solutions available to adopt ‘Green Port Operations’.

In the Summit, Memorandum of Understanding are also expected to be signed for furthering Trade cooperation between the Ports of Visakhapatnam, Kolkata and Chennai with Port Authority of Thailand (Ranong Port).

The Ports of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization comprising of seven Member states lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity.  The objective of BIMSTEC alliance was to harness trade and accelerated growth with mutual cooperation in different areas of common interest by utilising the regional resources and geographical advantage. 

In the morning of 8th November 2019, Shri Mandaviya will also participate in a beach cleaning drive in Vishakhapatnam along with the BIMSTEC participants, local students and port employees etc.

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NB/MS