The Seventeenth Session of the BIMSTEC Senior Officials’ Meeting(SOM), the Seventh Meeting of the BIMSTEC Joint Working Group on Establishment of the Permanent Secretariat of BIMSTEC and the Second Preparatory Meeting to the SOM, were held in Kathmandu, Nepal from 5-7 February 2017.The Seventeenth SOM reviewed the progress made by BIMSTEC and endorsed the recommendations of the Preceding Meetings, including expediting the signing of the BIMSTEC Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Grid Interconnection.

The Seventeenth SOM reviewed the progress made by BIMSTEC and endorsed the recommendations of the Preceding Meetings, including expediting the signing of the BIMSTEC Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Grid Interconnection. Given The high importance attached to the Outcome Document of the BIMSTEC Leaders’ Retreat held in Goa, India on 16 October of 2016, the Seventeenth SOM reviewed the progress on the Agenda of Action adopted at the Retreat.

Given The high importance attached to the Outcome Document of the BIMSTEC Leaders’ Retreat held in Goa, India on 16 October of 2016, the Seventeenth SOM reviewed the progress on the Agenda of Action adopted at the Retreat.

The SOM also deliberated on the numbers of proposed events for the celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the establishment of BIMSTEC in 2017 and finalized the time-frame for several important events and meetings, including the Fourth BIMSTEC Summit to be held in Nepal, later this year.