This March 2021 issue of Thinking Aloud has been dedicated to the Bay of Bengal Economic Dialogue 2021 on “Post-COVID-19 Challenges in the Bay of Bengal Region”, which was held virtually during 8-11 February 2021. The first page article on ‘Post-COVID-19 Challenges in the Bay of Bengal Region’ discusses the definition, types and importance of institutions for development in developing countries. The second, third and fourth pages of this issue present summaries of the sessions of the BoBED 2021. The first conference of BoBED has been organized by SANEM and convened by Dr Selim Raihan, Executive Director, SANEM and Professor, Department of Economics, University of Dhaka. The co-organizers of this conference were ASEAN-India Centre (AIC), RIS, India; South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE), Nepal; Indian Studies Center (ISC) of Chulalongkorn University, Thailand; Pathfinder Foundation (PF), Sri Lanka; and Centre for Research on Bhutanese Society (CRBS), Bhutan. The conference started with the Welcome Session and the Inaugural Session. The second day comprised the Keynote Presentation Session which was followed by two organized sessions on ‘Digital Connectivity and E-Commerce’, and ‘Trade and Regional Value Chains’, and two paper presentation sessions on ‘Trade’ and ‘Regional Cooperation’ respectively. The keynote presentation was delivered by Dr Rehman Sobhan, Chairman, Centre from Policy Dialogue, Bangladesh. The third day of the conference consisted of two paper presentation sessions on ‘Health and Education’, and ‘Employment Challenges’, along with three more organized sessions titled ‘Regional Connectivity in Bay of Bengal Region’, ‘Institutional Challenges for Post COVID Recovery’, and ‘Deepening Health Sector Cooperation in the Bay of Bengal Region’. The concluding day included one paper presentation session on ‘Cross-cutting Issues’ with two organized sessions titled ‘Tackling Post-COVID Challenges in the Bay of Bengal Region’ and ‘Strengthening People to People Contacts’ respectively. The closing session accommodated the release of a summary of the dialogue along with closing remarks from the organizing research institutes of the BoBED 2021. The fourth page also draws attention to the events that occurred during February 2021.
