BIMSTEC Secretary General, H.E. Indra Mani Pandey, called on H.E. Sk. Bashir Uddin, Adviser to the Ministry of Commerce of Bangladesh. Secretary General congratulated Honourable Adviser on his appointment as Adviser to the Ministry and expressed gratitude for the continued support of the Ministry of Commerce in promoting cooperation in sectors of trade and investment, which Bangladesh leads.
Referring to the ongoing negotiations of the six constituent agreements under the Framework Agreement on BIMSTEC FTA signed in 2004, SG requested renewed efforts to conclude them. SG noted that the Chairmanship of Bangladesh of BIMSTEC, following the 6th BIMSTEC Summit, will provide an opportunity for Bangladesh to provide its Leadership towards enhancing cooperation Trade, Investment and Development Sector. He highlighted the importance of convening regularly meetings of various mechanisms under the Trade, Investment and Development Sector for making the desirable progress.
The Secretary General stressed Bangladesh's key role in expanding and deepening regional cooperation within the BIMSTEC framework in the Bay of Bengal region, particularly in Trade, Investment and Development. H.E. Sk. Bashir Uddin also Bangladesh reiterated the support of Bangladesh for promoting regional cooperation through BIMSTEC, particularly in the Sector of Trade, Investment and Development including Blue Economy which Bangladesh Leads.
BIMSTEC comprises seven countries of the Bay of Bengal region: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. It pursues regional cooperation in seven broad sectors: Agriculture and Food Security; Connectivity; Environment and Climate Change; People to People Contact; Science, Technology and Innovation; Security; and Trade, Investment and Development. The cooperation also covers 8 sub-sectors: Blue Economy, Mountain Economy, Energy, Disaster Management, Fisheries and Livestock, Poverty Alleviation, Health and Human Resource Development.
