UNB, Dhaka :
Bangladesh has got the membership of Conference on Interaction and Confidence (Cica), one of the largest political entities in Asia that pursues the multilateral cooperation in the fields of peace, security and stability.
All the Cica members unanimously decided to accept Bangladesh as a full member of the organisation, said a Foreign Ministry release on Monday.
It said the entry of Bangladesh into Cica as a full member is strategically important for the country.
The membership will be formalised on May 20, right before the 4th Summit of Cica scheduled to be opened on May 21 in
Shanghai, China. Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, MP will lead the Bangladesh delegation to the summit. Bangladesh has been observer in Cica, which has its Secretariat in Almaty, Kazakhstan since 2010.
Cica has the potential to expand trade among the member states, particularly with Central Asian countries.
Bangladesh would try to promote trade and investment relations with the Cica member states. Bangladesh can utilise the Cica forum for projecting itself.
Launched in 1999, Cica is an inter-governmental forum for enhancing cooperation towards promoting peace, security and stability in Asia.
It is a forum based on the recognition that there is a close link with peace, security and stability in Asia and elsewhere in the world. The announcement by President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan at the 47th Session of the UN general Assembly on October 5, 1992 marks the beginning of the Cica process.
