Overview
- ASSOCHAM, serving as the India secretariat under the Ministry of External Affairs, formalised India’s role in the BIMSTEC Business Council and set out immediate priorities.
- Tribhuvan Darbari was named India Chair, describing BIMSTEC as a $5 trillion opportunity and calling for tighter integration and logistics coordination.
- The roadmap emphasises boosting intra-regional trade and investment, strengthening multimodal connectivity and digital trade, and advancing MSME internationalisation.
- Sectoral collaboration will focus on fintech, agritech, renewable energy and the blue economy, with structured industry–government engagement to convert plans into projects.
- BIMSTEC Secretary General Indra Mani Pandey urged regional self-reliance, and ASSOCHAM pledged support for a BIMSTEC Chamber of Commerce and Industry as diplomats from five partner countries joined the launch.