The government has expressed its “strong commitment” to the BIMSTEC process and urged the Member States to work closely for finalising all the relevant agreements at the earliest so that BIMSTEC Free Trade Area could be implemented without further delay.
Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen made the comment at the 23rd BIMSTEC Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) held in Bangkok on Wednesday in virtual mode.
The Foreign/External Affairs Secretaries of the Member States attended the meeting. Foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen led the Bangladesh delegation to the meeting.
He apprised the meeting about the progress made in the Trade, Investment and Development sector for which Bangladesh is the lead country, the foreign ministry said.
The Meeting took stock of the progress made so far since the 22nd SOM held March 2022 including the implementation of various decisions taken during the 5th Summit.
The meeting endorsed the 'Rules of Procedure' for all the BIMSTEC mechanisms including several administrative and financial matters of the BIMSTEC Secretariat to be approved by the BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting tomorrow.
The SOM also finalised the draft text of the Agreement on Maritime Transport Cooperation, which is expected to be approved by the Ministerial Meeting.
Moreover, the meeting finalized the BIMSTEC Bangkok Vision 2030 and recommended it for approval of the Ministerial Meeting. The SOM also endorsed Blue Economy as a sub-sector under the Trade, Investment and Development sector.
The 19th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting will be held in Bangkok on Thursday in virtual mode.
