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BIMSTEC nations to seek to push trade ties, connectivity
November 11, 2008: India and seven other member countries of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) will seek to push their trade ties and enhance connectivity during the Summit to be held here on Thursday.
Sources: Zee News
On the eve of the one-day summit, Foreign Ministers of the member countries will assemble here tomorrow to set the agenda for the meet.
The one-day second summit, to be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and leaders from Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Thailand is expected to focus on forging closer integration of the member countries that spread across South Asia and East Asia.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa arrived here tonight for the summit. Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein, Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigmi Y Thinley and Thai Premier Somchai Wangsawat will arrive tomorrow.
The specific areas to be covered include trade, counter-terrorism, trans-national crimes, tourism, fisheries and public health.
The leaders are also expected to review the progress on the proposed Free Trade Agreement between BIMSTEC member states.
Current trade among BIMSTEC countries is USD 20 billion.
India sees the forum as a bridge between South Asia and East Asia.
Members of the group are also members of either SAARC or ASEAN and the overlap complements the efforts to forge closeness.