Officials of the seven-nation group Bimstec—Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation – will engage in a three-day negotiation in Thailand from today (Monday) to put a final shape to the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The FTA was supposed to become effective in 2012, but the member countries—Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand—are far behind the schedule of realising the FTA. The meeting of Bimstec Trade Negotiation Committee (TNC), to be held at Khon Kaen city in Thailand, will finalise four trade instruments to be signed at the 6th Bimstec Trade and Economic Ministers Meeting in Dhaka. The meeting was supposed to take place in Dhaka in the middle of the current year. But it may be held now at the end of February or early March next year. A Bangladesh delegation, comprising officials from the Commerce Ministry, Law Ministry, Finance and Foreign Affairs Ministry, NBR, Tariff Commission, will attend the meeting. On February 8, 2004 in Phuket, Thailand, the ministers of economics and trade of the member countries of the Bimstec jointly signed a Framework Agreement to establish a free trade area by 2012, leading to liberalisation of trade in goods, services and investment, as well as to undertake economic cooperation. In January this year, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali said Bangladesh will host the 6th Bimstec Trade and Economic Ministerial meeting by mid-2015 wherein they were expecting the signing of four important instruments related to Bimstec FTA. He also stressed early finalisation of Bimstec Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to enhance trade and investment among its member states mentioning that the year 2015 could be a game changer in respect of Bimstec as an organisation. The four would-be deals or instruments are: Agreement on Trade in Goods of the Framework Agreement on Bimstec Free Trade Area (FTA); Protocol to Amend the Framework Agreement on Bimstec Free Trade Area; Agreement on Dispute Settlement Procedures and Mechanism of the Framework Agreement on Bimstec Free Trade are; and Agreement on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters for Bimstec Free Trade area.
