Bimstec Secretary General Indra Mani Pandey on Monday stressed Bangladesh's key role in expanding and deepening regional cooperation within the Bimstec framework in the Bay of Bengal region, particularly in trade, investment and development.

Referring to the ongoing negotiations of the six constituent agreements under the framework agreement on Bimstec FTA signed in 2004, he requested renewed efforts to conclude them.

The Secretary General of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation discussed the issues during a meeting with Commerce Adviser Sk. Bashir Uddin.

Bashir Uddin also reiterated the support of Bangladesh for promoting regional cooperation through BIMSTEC, particularly in the areas of trade, investment and development, including the blue economy which Bangladesh leads.

Bangladesh calls for finalizing BIMSTEC FTA

The Secretary General congratulated the Adviser on his appointment and expressed gratitude for the continued support of the Ministry of Commerce in promoting cooperation in sectors of trade and investment, which Bangladesh leads.

Pandey noted that the Chairmanship of Bangladesh of Bimstec, following the 6th Bimstec Summit, will provide an opportunity for Bangladesh to provide its leadership towards enhancing cooperation in the areas of trade, investment and development.

He highlighted the importance of convening regular meetings of various mechanisms under the Trade, Investment and Development Sector for making the desirable progress.

Bimstec comprises seven countries of the Bay of Bengal region: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

It pursues regional cooperation in seven broad sectors: agriculture and food security; connectivity; environment and climate change; people to people contact; science, technology and innovation; security; and trade, investment and development, said the Bimstec headquarters on Monday.

The cooperation also covers eight sub-sectors: blue economy, mountain economy, energy, disaster management, fisheries and livestock, poverty alleviation, health and human resource development.