Kathmandu, Nepal: The inaugural session fourth summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical for Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) has started on Thursday.
As the Chairperson of the summit, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli inaugurated the session amid a grand function at Hotel Soaltee Crowne Plaza in Kathmandu.
All the Heads of State/ Government of the seven BIMSTEC member countries—Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed, Chief Justice of Bhutan Tshering Wangchuk, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, President of Myanmar Win Myint, President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister of Thailand Prayut Chan-o-Cha-- met with President Bhandari at Sheetal Niwas.
Likewise, the delegates of the member states have also participated in the meeting.
The agendas of the summit are fixed as ‘Towards Peaceful, Prosperous and Sustainable Bay of Bengal Region’.
The summit is also going to sign in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Establishment of the BIMSTEC Grid Interconnections (BIMSTEC GI) with the aim to pave the way for trade in energy among member states.
As of the set agendas, the summit will focus on connectivity, poverty alleviation, trade, investment, tourism promotion, controlling cross border criminal activities and climate change.
Likewise, other issues like establishment of secretariat and BIMSTEC development fund is also made the agendas of the discussion.
The heads of states or heads of government of all seven member states – Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand will discuss on ranges of issues during the meeting.
