Heads of states and governments from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the special envoy of the Prime Minister of Thailand took part in the summit.
Establishment of the BIMSTEC permanent secretariat in Bangladesh has been officially approved by the top leaders of the seven-member regional forum.
A memorandum of understanding has been signed in this regard by the member countries of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation in Nay Pyi Taw of Myanmar on Tuesday.
Heads of states and governments from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the special envoy of the Prime Minister of Thailand took part in the summit.
They conveyed appreciation to Bangladesh for providing the premises for the BIMSTEC Secretariat in Dhaka and also expressed satisfaction at the progress made towards the operationalisation of the secretariat.
The summit adopted a declaration after the summit meeting.
It expressed satisfaction at the close cooperation between law enforcement agencies of the member states in combating terrorism and transnational crimes.
It also called for expediting the ratification process of BIMSTEC Convention on Cooperation in Combating International Terrorism, Transnational Organized Crime and Illicit Drug Trafficking.
About the trade issue, it directed the BIMSTEC Trade Negotiating Committee (TNC) to expedite its work for the conclusion of the Agreement on Trade in Goods by the end of 2014, and to continue its efforts for early finalisation of the Agreement on Services and Investments.
The decision to accelerate efforts for the early finalisation of the memorandum of association on the establishment of BIMSTEC technology transfer facility was also taken at the summit.
The summit stressed on enhancing regional cooperation in the energy sector and welcomed of holding of the Third BIMSTEC Energy Ministerial Meeting in Nepal in 2014 and the Fourth BIMSTEC Energy Ministerial Meeting in Bhutan in 2015.
About regional connectivity, the summit expressed satisfaction at the continuing work on developing physical connectivity in the BIMSTEC region and for enhancement of intra-regional connectivity, transport infrastructure and logistics.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
