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Published : 03 Apr 2025, 04:11 PM
The foreign ministers of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) member states have signed an agreement on maritime transport cooperation with the aim of expanding trade and travel in the Bay of Bengal.
The agreement was signed ahead of the 20th ministerial meeting of BIMSTEC, the seven-nation economic cooperation alliance in Thailand’s Bangkok on Thursday.
Foreign Advisor Touhid Hossain, who led the Bangladesh delegation at the meeting, signed the accord on behalf of Dhaka.
The BIMSTEC Secretariat said, “The agreement aims at expanding maritime transport in the Bay of Bengal with a view to enhancing transport of cargo as well as people enabling more trade and travel amongst the member states.”
BIMSTEC is a regional grouping of seven South Asian countries - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
Thailand is now serving as the BIMSTEC chair in a rotating format in alphabetical order. Bangladesh will take over as the next chair at the sixth summit scheduled to be held on Friday.
The BIMSTEC Secretariat is also located in Dhaka. As the next chair, Bangladesh will also have to initiate the implementation of the maritime transport cooperation agreement.
The foreign advisor highlighted Bangladesh’s commitment to ensuring collective peace, progress, and prosperity through a shared BIMSTEC vision in the ministerial meeting, according to a statement issued by the ministry.
He stressed tangible and result-oriented cooperation through effective implementation of the BIMSTEC free trade agreement (FTA) enhancing intra-regional trade.
Touhid raised the issue of 1.2 million Rohingya refugees sheltered in Bangladesh and stressed creating a conducive atmosphere in Myanmar for the return of the forcibly displaced people to their land with rights and security.
The foreign ministers also finalised the draft provisional agenda for the 6th BIMSTEC Summit and the draft of the Summit Declaration.
They agreed to hold the 21st BIMSTEC ministerial meeting in Dhaka. The meeting concluded with the adoption of the report of the 20th BIMSTEC ministerial meeting.
