Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba stressed the importance of unity, solidarity, and cooperation among the Member States to promote economic partnership and address the challenges facing the region.

Issuing statement on the occasion of the 25th anniversary, Prime Minister said that the Organization must be enabled to realize the regional aspirations of peace, development, and prosperity.

Extending greetings and best wishes to peoples and governments ofthe BIMSTEC Member States today, he said that in the context of the severe fallouts of the COVID-19 pandemic on lives, livelihoods, and economies, the urgency to speed up regional cooperation has never been so critical and the need to translate our commitment into action never so compelling.

Similarly, in a separate message, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Narayan Khadka called for necessary political will to reinvigorate the BIMSTEC process and make this year a momentous anniversaryyear, with a renewed resolve, concerted actions, and concrete outcomes.

He noted that the initiatives of institutional strengthening that started during the Fourth Summit held in Kathmandu in 2018 had culminated in the recent Fifth Summit held in Colombo.Foreign Minister Hon. Dr. Khadka also underscored the need to ensure thetimely and effective implementation of the BIMSTEC agreements to realize the shared goals of peace and prosperity.

Expressing confidence that BIMSTEC would continue to make further strides in strengthening cooperation among the Member States, he reiterated Nepal’s commitment to contribute constructively to theregional process.