Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will virtually join the BIMSTEC Summit scheduled to be held on March 30 in Sri Lanka.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, who will attend the Summit, confirmed the prime minister’s virtual joining.
While talking to reporters at his office on Tuesday, Dr Momen also said Myanmar is not probably sending ther head of the government.
The 5th BIMSTEC Summit is likely to adopt the long expected BIMSTEC transport connectivity master plan, says State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam recently.
This plan, he said, will put new impetus in implementation of multi-modal connectivity projects connecting the member states towards regional integration in the Bay of Bengal Region.
Though the COVID 19 slowed down the momentum, the 5th BIMSTEC Summit will be held after four years since the 4th BIMSTEC Summit held in 2018.
The much-awaited next edition of the BIMSTEC Summit will be hosted by current chair Sri Lanka.
The 5th BIMSTEC Summit will be an opportunity to review and reflect what had worked and what did not, said the State Minister.
“It will be an opportunity to refresh and renew their commitment to strengthen the BIMSTEC Process in all respects,” he said.
At the impending 5th BIMSTEC Summit, Alam said, a substantive number of issues are expected to be high on the agenda of the leaders for their consideration and adoption.
Another fundamental area of cooperation and a much needed element of regional integration is the implementation of BIMSTEC Free Trade Area, said the State Minister while addressing as the chief guest at the “Bay of Bengal Economic Forum 2022” on Friday.
Alam said BIMSTEC is expecting to get a Charter after 25 years of its establishment. “We’re also expecting a quarter dozen legal instruments to be concluded during the Summit.”
With the conclusion of these four legal instruments, the number of essential legal documents will be raised to 13 from existing, he said.
These documents are fundamental software for operation and functioning of the BIMSTEC Process which has been moving at a slow pace since its inception in 1997.
Source: United News of Bangladesh