Tenzin Lekphell nominated by Bhutan has been recommended for the next Secretary General of BIMSTEC.
The senior officials of the member states made the recommendation at a virtual meeting on Wednesday.
Tenzin Lekphell, a bureaucrat turned politician, will replace the incumbent Secretary General Ambassador M Shahidul Islam from Bangladesh.
Bangladesh foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen welcomed the appointment.
He echoed with other heads of the delegations of the Senior Officials Meeting and expressed his confidence that the next Secretary General will carry forward the momentum of the BIMSTEC process ahead that has been created by the incumbent Secretary General through “his dynamic activities and innovative initiatives”.
The BIMSTEC or Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation is a regional forum that connects South Asia with Southeast Asia.
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand are the member states of the Bay of Bengal grouping.
During the meeting, the senior officials proposed that the 5th BIMSTEC Summit preceded by the 17th BIMSTEC Ministerial meeting to be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in the first half of January 2021 subject to the improved Covid-19 situation.
The Summit proposed to be held in early September 2020 was postponed due to the pandemic.
With the hosting of the Summit, the Chairmanship of BIMSTEC will be handed over to Thailand for the period of 2021-2022.
The BIMSTEC Summit of the Heads of the BIMSTEC Countries is the highest policy making body in the BIMSTEC process.
During Wednesday's meeting, Bangladesh facilitated and supported the endorsement of a series of documents at the meeting chaired by Admiral Prof Jayanath Colombage, the Foreign Secretary of Sri Lanka, the foreign ministry said.
The 4th BIMSTEC Permanent Working Committee (BPWC) Meeting also virtually held on August 31.
The meeting recommended some critical legal documents like the BIMSTEC Charter, Convention on Cooperation on Criminal and Legal Matters, MOA on Technology Transfer Facilities, MoU on Cooperation among Diplomatic Training Academies, Template of MoA on BIMSTEC Centers and Entities, finalisation of BIMSTEC Transport Connectivity Master Plan to be signed during the 5th BIMSTEC Summit.
With the finalisation of the BIMSTEC Charter, a long overdue document since BIMSTEC’s inception, it is expected that BIMSTEC will move on a fast track.
Moreover, the SOM considered the report of the 4th BPWC Meeting that has finalized and recommended some more important legal documents including Rules of Procedures, Procurement Policy, granting GPF to local staff, finalization of the Organogram of BIMSTEC.
In addition, the 21st SOM prepared the agenda of the 17th Ministerial Meeting and the 5th BIMSTEC Summit.
In his remarks to the forum, the Bangladesh Foreign Secretary expressed “Bangladesh’s strong commitment to BIMSTEC process and stressed on the importance of strengthening BIMSTEC institutional mechanisms and rationalization of BIMSTEC areas of cooperation keeping in mind the challenges posed by the ongoing global pandemic COVID-19”.
