A seven-nation sub-regional grouping comprising Bangladesh identified on Tuesday four topmost priority areas out of its 14 sectors for more cooperation among the member countries.
Senior officials of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) in a meeting of the economic grouping also vowed to jointly combat the growing threat of terrorism and agreed to intensify efforts to enhance connectivity and cooperation in areas like trade, energy and environment.
The priority areas of cooperation, which the meeting identified, included connectivity, trade and investment, people-to-people contacts and the rising threat from terrorism and extremism.
BIMSTEC Secretary General Sumith Nakandala inaugurated the two-day meeting at a local hotel urging the officials to find out ways and means of how to face the challenges and make the organisation more effective. Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque presided over the meeting of the inaugural session.
The foreign secretary in his speech identified the growing threat of terrorism and the adverse effect of climate change as two major challenges hindering development efforts of the sub-regional grouping that comprises seven South Asia and South East Asian nations-Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.
Noting that the region faces many common challenges - from natural disasters to terrorism, he said they had to be collectively addressed to make an important contribution to peace, harmony, security and prosperity in the region. Since its inception in 1997, BIMSTEC has completed 17 years of its journey. Although the economic bloc has made some progress, still it needs to be invigorated, especially in the field of Free Trade Area Agreement.
"One of the most important concerns for the organisation is how to finalise the BIMSTEC Free Trade Area Agreement," said the BIMSTEC Secretary General while addressing the inaugural function.
Started with only four participating members and six areas of cooperation, the sub-regional economic grouping, formed in Bangkok, has now expanded to seven members and fourteen areas of cooperation. The BIMSTEC secretariat is in Dhaka.
Bangladesh will host the 6th BIMSTEC Trade and Economic Ministerial Meeting by mid-2015. Bangladesh is likely to sign four important deals relating to BIMSTEC Free Trade Area (FTA) in mid-April, when the Trade and Economic Ministerial Meeting of the group will take place in Dhaka, to boost economic relations among the member countries.
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