Momen emphasises fortifying Bimstec cooperation

Foreign Secretary Ambassador Masud Bin Momen has stressed the importance of strengthening Bimstec's institutional mechanisms and rationalisation of its areas of cooperation, keeping the challenges posed by the ongoing global pandemic in mind.

He has also expressed Bangladesh's strong commitment to the Bimstec process.

Masud Bin Momen was virtually addressing the 21st session of the Bimstec Senior Officials' Meeting on Wednesday.

During the meeting, the foreign secretaries of Bimstec member states recommended appointing Tenzin Lekphell, nominated by Bhutan, as the next secretary general.
He will replace the incumbent Secretary General Ambassador M Shahidul Islam from Bangladesh.

Bangladesh facilitated and supported the endorsement of the vital documents at the session.
The long overdue Bimstec charter was also finalised, which is expected to accelerate the organisation's activities.

The meeting also recommended further legal documents such as: 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, and Template of MoA on Bimstec Centres and Entities.

The session was chaired by Admiral Prof Jayanath Colombage, foreign secretary of Sri Lanka.

The foreign secretaries and senior officials of all seven Bimstec member states joined the first-ever online meeting.

Earlier, the 4th Bimstec Permanent Working Committee meeting was also virtually held on August 31, 2020.

The 21st session of the Senior Officials' Meeting also prepared the agenda of the 17th ministerial meeting and the 5th Bimstec summit.

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-19 situation.

With the hosting of the summit, the chairmanship of Bimstec will be handed over to Thailand for 2021-2022.