PM Deuba to inaugurate 15th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting

Kathmandu, Aug. 9: The 15^th BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) ministerial meeting will begin here on Thursday.

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba will inaugurate the meeting that will finalise the date of the Fourth BIMSTEC Summit to be hosted by Nepal – the current chair of the sub-regional forum, later this year.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Krishna Bahadur Mahara will chair the ministerial meeting, and Foreign Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi will chair the 18^th session of the BIMSTEC Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM), which will precede the meeting.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), foreign/external affairs ministers of the member countries will make a collective call to PM Deuba on the same day.

It said that the SOM will deliberate on the issues like concluding BIMSTEC Free Trade Agreement, and signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development of BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection. The meeting will also prepare the agenda for the ministerial meeting.

Seven members of the Initiative – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand – had expressed their readiness to sign the MoU at the 17^th session of the BIMSTEC SOM which was held in Kathmandu in February this year.

Although the MoU was expected to be signed at the third Energy Ministers’ Meeting, it could not happen.

Spokesperson of the MoFA Bharat Raj Poudyal said that the meeting couldn’t be held at that time. The MoU will facilitate other BIMSTEC countries to import hydropower from Myanmar and exchange power.

This deal is in line with the SAARC Framework Agreement for Energy Cooperation, which aims to set up a South Asian Regional Grid for cross-border power trade.

Likewise, the BIMSTEC member countries, in the 17^th SOM, had agreed to conclude the Free Trade Area Framework Agreement at the earliest.

Similarly, the ministerial meeting on Friday will assess the progress in the 14 identified areas of cooperation and converse on the ways to expedite the cooperation under the sub-regional grouping.

The meeting will also discuss the appointment of the next Secretary General of the BIMSTECH and the tenure of the incumbent Secretary General.

Secretary General of BIMSTEC Sumith Nakandala will deliver special remarks at the meeting.

DPM Mahara will host a welcome dinner in honour of the visiting foreign/external affairs ministers and other delegates attending the meeting.

Foreign Ministers of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India Nepal and Sri Lanka - Abdul Hassan Mahmood Ali, Damcho Dorji, Sushma Swaraj, Krishna Bahadur Mahara and Rabi Karunanayake respectively – Deputy Foreign Ministers of Myanmar and Thailand – U Kyaaw Tin and Virasakdi Futrakul respectively – will participate in the ministerial meeting.

Nepal is the current chair of BIMSTEC established on June 6, 1997.