BCIM ECONOMIC CORRIDOR: The Road Ahead

The BCIM (Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar) Forum (earlier known as the Kunming Initiative) was founded as a TrackII Dialogue in 1999 with the objective of widening and deepening regional and subregional cooperation. Over the years, member countries of the forum have strived to work together on issues such as trade tourism and connectivity as well as cooperation in social, cultural and academic fields to enhance interactions at all levels.

While physical connectivity for the BCIMEC is important, it is equally important to consider various soft connectivity inputs into the project considering that the member countries together constitute a market of 2.8 billion people and a GDP of more than US$ 9 trillion. Swift economic transitions in Myanmar have given a fillip to India and China’s attempts to promote growth and development in their respective border provinces. These developments interalia have led to mushrooming of subregional cooperation that involves trade facilitation measures in its broadest meaning to include transit and motor vehicles agreements, customs procedures, special arrangements for border trade, etc.

The BCIMEC project would need to assess the potential benefits to India, particularly to the North East Region. The infrastructural needs of this subregion as well as the prospects for enhanced trade and investments, revival of traditional industries and other welfare gains would require careful analyses. This book attempts to analyse such issues in addition to assessing the opportunities that BCIMEC offers, and challenges that it faced with.