The seventh meeting of Bimstec Joint Working Group on the establishment of Bimstec Permanent Secretariat began in Kathmandu on Sunday.

Chief of the Regional Organisations Division of the Ministry and leader of Nepali delegation Mani Prasad Bhattarai is leading the meeting. Other members of the Nepali delegation include officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Finance.

Delegates from the seven member states are participating in the meeting that will also review the progress made by the Bimstec in the 14 areas of socio-economic development. Financial and administrative issues concerning the Bimstec Secretariat will also be discussed. The Bimstec working group will present its report to the second preparatory meeting to the 17th session of Bimstec senior officials’ meeting (Bimstec-PrepSOM) on Monday.

Nepal is the current chair of the Bay of Bengal Initiatives for Multi-sectoral, Technical and Economic Cooperation. Founded in 1997, it brings together Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Thailand and Sri Lanka.

The importance of Bimstec was highlighted during the recent BRICS-Bimstec Outreach Summit in Goa, India, where Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his desire to promote it and assured full cooperation it needs to move on.

The 7th session of Bimstec senior officials’ meeting at the foreign secretary level, which is expected to announce the date of 4th Bimstec Summit to be held in Nepal this year, will take place on Tuesday.