PM to attend 3rd Bimstec Summit in Myanmar

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will lead a 32-member Bangladesh delegation to the third Bimstec Summit to be held in Nay Pyi Taw, the capital of Myanmar, on March 4. The Prime Minister will leave Dhaka for Nay Pyi Taw on Monday and return home on Tuesday, said a Foreign Ministry media release on Friday night. On the sidelines of the Summit, she will hold bilateral meetings with her counterparts of the Bimstec member-countries, including from India, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan. The heads of state and government will take stock of the progress made since the last Summit, exchange views on various aspects of the group’s collective engagements and set the future direction of the organization in the upcoming Bimstec Summit which will adopt a declaration. Three instruments — Memorandum of Association (MoA) on the Establishment of Bimstec Permanent Secretariat in Dhaka, Memorandum of Association (MoA) on the Establishment of Bimstec Centre for Weather and Climate in India and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Bimstec Culture Industries Commission and Bimstec Cultural Industries Observatory to be set up in Bhutan – are expected to be signed during the summit, the release said, according to UNB. Following the Summit, the Bimstec Permanent Secretariat is expected to be functional in Dhaka.