Khaleda flies off to join BIMST-EC meet in Bangkok
Staff Correspondent
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia flies off to Bangkok today with a strong 31-member contingent to attend the first summit of the BIMST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand Economic Cooperation), which is likely to be renamed in the summit slated for July 30-31.Khaleda and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are scheduled to meet for the first time as heads of government on the sidelines of the summit on July 31. Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan, however, said the maiden bilateral meeting between the two countries could be held on July 30. A bilateral meeting will also be held with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on July 30 in an effort to boost the government's 'look east' policy. The summit, put off in February due to the then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's preoccupation with the general election, will also include, for the first time, Nepal and Bhutan, who were drafted in as full-fledged members of the maritime club in a BIMST-EC ministerial meeting in February. A foreign ministry announcement said yesterday that Dhaka, which signed the free trade agreement (FTA) with six others member countries after delay of three months, would focus on fostering stronger commercial and economic cooperation at the summit. Bangladesh and other less-developed countries-- Burma, Nepal and Bhutan-- will have to reduce tariffs by 2011, according to FTA. The more affluent BIMST-EC members Thailand, India and Sri Lanka will phase out tariffs on fast-track products by 2009. The BIMST-EC countries with a combined population of 1.3 billion and an intra-trade value of $3 billion last year outweigh Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) as an economic union. The Saarc countries have also ratified a FTA, he South Asian Free Trade Area. Tariffs for non-fast track products will be phased out in developing countries by 2012 and in less-developed countries by 2015 while duties on more 'sensitive' products would be discussed between 2005 and 2007. The issues of anti-terrorism cooperation, multilateral trade and Asian Highway Network-- an ambitious road project that proposes to connect South Asia with Southeast Asia, are also expected to come up for discussion, official sources said. The other priorities on the agenda are investment, tourism, energy, infrastructure, technology, transportation and communication. Inclusion of the two Himalayan kingdoms necessitates a change in the name of the organisation that was set up in 1997 in Bangkok. India has already suggested it to be called as ''Bay of Bengal Community''. Khaleda is scheduled to return on July 31.
| 
