Fresh from the success of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation last year, Thailand is currently chairing another immense regional economic bloc promoting holistic and sustainable development and smart connectivity amongst South Asia and Southeast Asia. In the coming decades, if not centuries, these combined regions will together form the centre of the Indo-Pacific.
The name of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation or Bimstec might sound awkward and not be a familiar acronym but its future potential is not. Bimstec is considered the world's second regional bloc with a population of more than 1.5 billion. It will be sooner rather than later that Bimstec-related news hits the headlines.
