\\\'Bimstec permanent secretariat to start functioning in May\\\'

State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam has affirmed that the Bimstec Permanent Secretariat will start functioning in Dhaka in May. The affirmation came after the signing of a memorandum of association (MoA) on the establishment of the 7-nation Bimstec’s Secretariat on Monday. Moreover, a memorandum of understanding (MOA) will be inked by all the member states at the third Bimstec Summit on Tuesday, a Foreign Ministry release has said. The State Minister for Foreign Affairs is now on a two-day visit to Nay Pyi Taw, the new capital of Myanmar, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, to attend the Bimstec summit. Shahriar Alam led the Bangladesh delegation at the 14th Bimstec ministerial meeting in Nay Pyi Taw on Monday. The Bimstec Ministerial level meeting was attended by all the seven Bimstec member-states. The meeting took place prior to the Summit. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will lead Bangladesh delegation in the summit. Shahriar Alam welcomed Ambassador Sumith Nakandala, the first Secretary General of Bimstec from Sri Lanka, to take up his new assignment in Dhaka shortly. The State Minister also urged the member states to further widen and deepen collective engagements in Bimstec, especially in the sectors of trade and investment, energy, climate change, transport and communication, poverty alleviation and counter terrorism and transnational crimes and so on, according to UNB.