ISDS Case Map
BIMSTEC
Bangladesh-India-Myanmar-Sri Lanka-Thailand (plus Bhutan and Nepal) Economic Cooperation
The tenth meeting of the BIMSTEC Trade Negotiation Committee (TNC) began here in the capital today.
As a new sub-regional group, the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is making its presence felt in this part of the world.
Trade officials from seven South and Southeast Asian countries are convening in the capital from Wednesday for the 10th BIMSTEC Trade Negotiation Committee (TNC) meeting to finalize a free trade accord on trade in goods.
A free trade pact between seven South and Southeast Asia nations was likely to be in place by July 2006, Bangladesh's foreign minister said Monday after a meeting of a regional economic forum.
The seven-nation Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation ministerial meet ended here today with a resolve to deepen economic integration by implementing FTA on schedule, relax visa rules and enhance cooperation in counter-terrorism and trans-nation crimes.
BIMSTEC (Bangladesh-India-Myanmar-Sri Lanka-Thailand Economic Co-operation) Trade Ministers will sign a free-trade deal on goods at their Dhaka meet early next year.
Like SAARC, the South and Southeast Asian BIMSTEC has also become another seven-nation grouping with the inclusion of Bhutan and Nepal in the first BIMSTEC Bangkok summit in 2004 and its 8th ministerial meeting will now take place in Dhaka on 19 December.
Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan who formally assumes BIMSTEC chair with the holding of its ministerial meeting here on December 19 said Dhaka wants early enforcement of the FTA in goods in the BIMSTEC region, as production base in Bangladesh is gradually expanding.
The current state of play in the Doha Round negotiations underlines the importance of stronger bilateral and regional trading agreements for India. As of now, India has concluded trading agreements with Sri Lanka, Thailand and Singapore. In the regional context, Safta and Bimstec are yet to really takeoff.
There has been a spate of trade agreements signed between countries in recent years - from the same region and even beyond. And this may not necessarily have to do with the fact that it has been a tough going for the multilateral trading system. Regionalism may have its own dynamics.
