It was decided at a meeting of the Council of Advisers with Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed in the chair yesterday.

The meeting assigned Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury to the task of signing the treaty during the forthcoming ministerial-level meeting of ARF (Asean Regional Forum) on August 2 in the Philippines.

The Philippines, the current ARF chairman, has invited Bangladesh to take part in the TAC in Southeast Asia, said Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Syed Fahim Munaim.

Bangladesh got the ARF membership last year.

Asean's 1976 Treaty of Amity and Cooperation is the grouping's founding nonaggression pact aimed at promoting regional stability.

Five founding members -- Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- signed the TAC in Indonesia on February 24, 1976.

At the Council of Advisers' meeting, a presentation on activities under Accelerated Service Delivery Action Plan 2007 was presented by the Health Ministry for accelerating the implementation of Health, Nutrition and Population Sector Programme (HNPSP) 2003-2010.

After the presentation, chief adviser gave a directive for successful implementation of HNPSP by 2010 to attain the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This mega plan is aimed at improving the public health services, particularly for women, children, elderly and disadvantaged people, as part of the UN-designated recipe for alleviation of poverty.

He also asked the authorities not to transfer HNPSP project director frequently rather to ensure at least two or three years in the same position "for smooth work and positive outcome".

The HNPSP involves Tk 32,446 crore, of which government fund is about Tk 16.223 crore and the rest coming from development partners.

All the advisers attended the meeting at the Chief Adviser's Office. The Cabinet

Secretary and other concerned Secretaries were also present.