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Memorandum of Association

UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS | CABINET APPROVES MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION (MOA) BY INDIA FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF BIMSTEC TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER CENTRE AT COLOMBO | 16TH JUNE | PIB

/ June, 2022, UPSC Daily Current Affairs

SYLLABUS SECTION:

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Recently, The Union Cabinet has approved a Memorandum of Association (MoA) by India for the establishment of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Technology Transfer Facility (TTF).

  • It was signed by the BIMSTEC member countries at the 5thBIMSTEC Summit held in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 30th March 2022.

MORE DETAILS:

  • The main objectives of the BIMSTEC TTF are to coordinate, facilitate and strengthen cooperation in technology transfer among the BIMSTEC Member States by promoting the transfer of technologies, sharing of experiences, and capacity building.
  • The TTF shall facilitate the transfer of technologies among the BIMSTEC Member States, in the following priority areas:
  • Biotechnology,
  • Nanotechnology,
  • Information and Communication Technology,
  • Space technology applications,
  • Agricultural technology,
  • Food processing technology,
  • Pharmaceutical technology automation,
  • New and renewable energy technology automation,
  • New and Renewable energy technology,
  • Oceanography,
  • Nuclear Technology Applications,
  • E-waste and solid waste management technology,
  • Health Technologies,
  • Technologies pertinent to Disaster Risk Reduction and
  • Climate Change Adaptation.
  • The TTF shall have a Governing Board and the overall control of activities of the TTF shall be vested in the Governing Board.
  • The Governing Board shall consist of one nominee from each Member State.

BENEFITS:

  • The expected outcomes of the BIMSTEC TTF are:
  • Databank of technologies available in BIMSTEC Countries,
  • Repository of information on good practices in the areas of technology transfer management, standards, accreditation, metrology, testing, and calibration facilities,
  • It is established with the aim of accelerating shared growth and cooperation between littoral and adjacent countries in the Bay of Bengal region.
  • Capacity building, sharing of experiences and good practices in development, and
  • Transfer and use of technologies among BIMSTEC countries.
BIMSTEC
  • The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a multilateral regional organization.
  • It came into being in 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration.
  • It has a total of seven member countries- five from South Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, and two from Southeast Asia, including Myanmar and Thailand.
  • BIMSTEC was initially a four-member state: Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand
  • It used to call as BIST-EC where ‘EC’ stands for Economic Cooperation. In 1997 Myanmar joined it and it became BIMST-EC.
  • In 2004 when Nepal and Bhutan were admitted, the present name ‘BIMSTEC’ was taken over.
  • The areas of BIMSTEC cooperation: Trade and Investment, Technology, Energy, Transportation and Communication, Tourism, Fisheries, Agriculture, Cultural Cooperation, Environment and Disaster Management, Public Health, People-to-People Contact, Poverty Alleviation, Counter-Terrorism, and Transnational Crime, Climate Change.

Read more: UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS

SOURCE: PIB