In March 2023, Prime Minister Kishida announced the Bay of Bengal and Northeastern India Industrial Value Chain Initiative as part of Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) vision. Centered on the deep-sea port at Matarbari, a core component of the Moheshkhali–Matarbari Integrated Infrastructure Development Initiative (MIDI), the project seeks to ease congestion at Chattogram Port and strengthen regional connectivity including India’s Northeastern Region (NER)　and landlocked neighboring countries of Bhutan and Nepal as its economic hinterland. Supported by long-standing cooperation among Japan, Bangladesh, and India, this initiative has been further invigorated by industrial developments such as Tata Electronics’ semiconductor project in Assam, which has also attracted growing interest from Japanese businesses. Taking advantage of this trend, Bhutan has been promoting the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) project, which is built upon the basis of enhanced connectivity with Assam and Bangladesh, under the direct leadership of His Majesty the King.

However, such positive developments have taken a turn to the worse since the collapse of the Hasina administration in August 2024. Diplomatic tensions between India and Bangladesh, persistent instability in several states in India’s NER, the ongoing political and security crisis in Myanmar, and recent political upheavals in Nepal have cast uncertainty over the region’s political and economic future. The spread of instability across the Bay of Bengal risks triggering a negative cycle of stagnating regional economic cooperation, reduced investment from within and outside of the region, and prolonged political instability.

This symposium brings together researchers from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal to share the latest assessments of national developments and to explore pathways for revitalizing regional economic cooperation through enhanced connectivity. By offering an informed and multi-perspective understanding of current challenges, the symposium aims to provide valuable insights for policymakers and Japanese enterprises considering engagement in the Bay of Bengal region, while fostering dialogue among researchers in the region that contributes to regional stability and renewed cooperation based on deeper mutual understandings.

We look forward to your participation.