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PM to inaugurate BIMST-EC

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will inaugurate the fifth Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand Economic Cooperation BIMST-EC Ministerial meeting which is scheduled to be held on December 20.

This regional grouping serves as a bridge linking South and South Asia. The member countries participating in the forthcoming BIMST-EC Ministerial meeting in Colombo include Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Thailand and Sri Lanka as host. Nepal will be participating as an observer country.

At this meeting, Sri Lanka will assume the Chair of BIMST-EC, which has been held by Myanmar.

The meetings of the apex body of BIMST-EC since its inception, have been convened at the Deputy Foreign Ministerial level. In order to infuse more dynamism at a higher policy level, to the work of the organization, it was determined at the last meeting in Yangon, Myanmar, that the BIMST-EC apex body be convened at the Foreign Ministerial level. Sri Lanka, therefore, is hosting the first Foreign Ministerial level meeting of BIMST-EC, which will be Chaired by Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando.

It is envisaged that the Ministers would utilize this occasion to identify and deliberate on issues that would provide further momentum to the work of the Organ station.

The BIMST-EC Grouping in 2000 had identified the significance of working towards a Preferential Trade Agreement culminating in a regional Free Trade Areas. An Inter- Governmental Group has since been established to undertake a study of the possible approaches towards realizing this objective.

The fifth BIMST-EC Ministerial meeting will be preceded by related meetings of the Business Forum represented by the private sector, the Economic Forum comprising both State and private sector participants and the Senior Officials (Foreign Secretaries) representing the member governments.

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