Dhaka for consolidating BIMSTEC Cooperation

Dhaka has emphasised on expediting and consolidating the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Cooperation.

Addressing the 21st session of the BIMSTEC Senior Official’s Meeting (SOM) virtually held on Wednesday in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh’s Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen expressed Bangladesh’s strong commitment to BIMSTEC process.

He also stressed on the importance of strengthening BIMSTEC institutional mechanisms and rationalisation of BIMSTEC areas of cooperation keeping in mind the challenges posed by the ongoing global pandemic COVID-19.

Foreign Secretaries and Senior Officials of all the seven BIMSTEC member states joined the first ever virtually held SOM during this unprecedented COVID-19 Pandemic.

The BIMSTEC member states – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand – are among the countries dependent on the Bay of Bengal.

Bangladesh facilitated and supported the endorsement of a series of vital documents at the 21st Session of the BIMSTEC Senior Official’s Meeting chaired by Admiral Prof Jayanath Colombage, the Foreign Secretary of Sri Lanka and 4th BIMSTEC Permanent Working Committee (BPWC) Meeting also virtually held on Monday (Aug 31).

The meeting recommended some critical legal documents like the BIMSTEC Charter, Convention on Cooperation on Criminal and Legal Matters, Memorandum of Association (MoA) on Technology Transfer Facilities, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation among Diplomatic Training Academies, Template of MaA on BIMSTEC Centers and Entities, finalization of BIMSTEC Transport Connectivity Master Plan to be signed during the 5th BIMSTEC Summit.

With the finalization of the BIMSTEC Charter, a long overdue document since BIMSTEC’s inception, it is expected that BIMSTEC will move on a fast track.

Moreover, the SOM considered the report of 4th BPWC Meeting that has finalized and recommended some more important legal documents including Rules of Procedures, Procurement Policy, granting GPF to local staffs, finalization of the Organogram of BIMSTEC. In addition, the 21st SOM prepared the agenda of the 17th Ministerial Meeting and the 5th BIMSTEC Summit.

In his remarks to the forum, the Bangladesh Foreign Secretary expressed Bangladesh’s strong commitment to BIMSTEC process and stressed on the importance of strengthening BIMSTEC institutional mechanisms and rationalization of BIMSTEC areas of cooperation keeping in mind the challenges posed by the ongoing global pandemic COVID-19.

During the meeting, the Foreign Secretaries of the BIMSTEC member states recommended the appointment of the next Secretary General of BIMSTEC, Tenzin Lekphell nominated by Bhutan.

Tenzin Lekphell, a distinguished bureaucrat turned politician, will replace the incumbent Secretary General Ambassador M Shahidul Islam from Bangladesh.

While welcoming the appointment of the next Secretary General, echoing with other heads of the delegations of the Senior Official’s Meeting, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen expressed his confidence that the next Secretary General will carry forward the momentum of the BIMSTEC process ahead that have been created by the incumbent Secretary General through his dynamic activities and innovative initiatives.

The 5th BIMSTEC Summit preceded by the 17th BIMSTEC Ministerial meeting is proposed to be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in the first half of January 2021 subject to the improved COVID situation.

Initially, the 5th BIMSTEC Summit was proposed to be held in early September 2020 and got postponed due to COVID-19 Pandemic.

With the hosting of the Summit, the Chairmanship of BIMSTEC will be handed over to Thailand for the period of 2021-2022. Mentionable that BIMSTEC Summit of the Heads of the BIMSTEC Countries is the highest policy making body in the BIMSTEC process.