Business Desk :
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed on Sunday said the BIMSTEC needs to be more vibrant for effective negotiation in regional trade.
The minister made the remark while inaugurating the 21th meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Trade Negotiation Committee in a city hotel as the chief guest, said a press release.
A total of 35 representatives of Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand are taking part in the two-day meeting, where different issues such as rules of origin, trade in service, investment, legal, customs cooperation and trade facilitation would be discussed.
Mentioning that BIMSTEC is an important platform in regional trade, Tofail said all could reap benefit through increasing facilities in regional and sub-regional trade.
A total of six working committees have been formed to avail the trade facilities in 14 sectors under BIMSTEC.
The minister urged all the members to utilize the potentiality through regular meetings.
With Senior Secretary of Commerce Ministry Shubhashish Bose in the chair, Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Huq and BIMSTEC Secretary General M Mahidul Islam also spoke on the occasion. Additional Secretary of Commerce Ministry M Shafikul Islam gave welcome speech.
