THE SASAKAWA PEACE FOUNDATION

Possibilities for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership between BIMST-EC Countries and Japan

7,200,000 yen (Grant project)
Centre for Studies in International Relations and Development (CSIRD, India)

Multi-tiered economic cooperation through the bilateral and multilateral Free Trade Agreement has been proceeding in Asia aiming toward the realization of an Asian Economic Community. Particularly, BIMSTEC (Bangladesh India Myanmar Sri Lanka Thailand Economic Cooperation), which includes fast growing India and Thailand as members, has been established and its potential activity has been the center of attention. Japan is also expected to play the role of an engine in strengthening regional cooperation within the Bengal Bay. The project aims to study possibilities for comprehensive economic cooperation between BIMSTEC and Japan, and to submit proposals. Collaborative research will be carried out by researchers from CSIRD, BIISS (Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies), Institute of South Asian Studies of Chulalongkorn University, the Sri Lankan Institute of International Relations, and institutes of Myanmar and Japan. Results of the research will be released though various media.

Activities of the year will be as follows.

Preparatory and dialogue meetings (June, 2006 in Dacca)
Representatives from each think tank and various researchers, a total of 15 members, will discuss frameworks for research at the preparatory meeting. A dialogue meeting will be held with 15 Bangladeshi policy planners and intellectuals invited to raise awareness.
Research (June to October, 2000)
Research, including hearings from policy planners and company people, will be carried out based on the frameworks discussed at the preparatory meeting. Results of the research will be disclosed at the following international conference.
International conference (3 days in November, 2006 in Yangon and Bangkok)
The International conference will be held to report the results of the research. Additional presenters will be selected based on submitted papers. Participants will include government policy planners, people from companies, media, and NGOs. The total number of the participants will be 45.
Publicity (January to March, 2007)
Results of the activities will be released on a web site and published in newsletters (twice a year). Collected papers including the research results and papers presented at the international conference will be published.

(Second year of a 3-year project)