Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to visit Bangkok in the first week of September to attend the BIMSTEC Summit.
Foreign Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud announced this on Sunday while briefing the media about the recent Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) ministerial meeting held in Delhi. He attended the meeting and reported that the foreign ministers have agreed to hold the summit on September 4.
All heads of government from the member states are expected to attend the summit.
BIMSTEC is a regional organization established on June 6, 1997, with the signing of the Bangkok Declaration. Initially known as BIST-EC (Bangladesh-India-Sri Lanka-Thailand Economic Cooperation), the organization was renamed BIMSTEC after Myanmar joined on December 22, 1997, followed by Bhutan and Nepal in February 2004.
Following a decision at the Third BIMSTEC Summit in 2014, the BIMSTEC Secretariat was established in Dhaka the same year, providing a formal framework for enhancing cooperation among member states.
“We will be the next chairman of BIMSTEC,” Foreign Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud said.
“I will assume the role of the new chair after the BIMSTEC summit. That’s why this ministerial meeting was very important for us,” he added.
