At Dhaka, Bangladesh
The Second Meeting of the BIMSTEC Working Group on Trade Facilitation was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 29-30 September 2019. Delegations from all the Member States attended the Meeting.
In the opening session, the Secretary General underscored the importance on trade facilitation measures to boost regional trade and expressed hope that this Meeting would be able to finalize the text of the Agreement on Trade Facilitation for the BIMSTEC FTA.
Dr. Md. Jafar Uddin, Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Bangladesh was the Chief Guest in the opening session of the meeting while H.E. M Shahidul Islam, Secretary General of BIMSTEC delivered special remarks. Ms. Sharifa Khan, Additional Secretary (FTA), Ministry of Commerce, Bangladesh delivered the welcome remarks and Mr. Md. Shamsul Haque, Director General (SAARC & BIMSTEC), Ministry of Foreign Affairs also delivered his remarks.
The Second Meeting of the BIMSTEC Working Group on Trade Facilitation, chaired by Ms. Sharifa Khan, made significant progress in finalizing the draft text of the Agreement on Trade Facilitation for the BIMSTEC FTA.
The Meeting discussed and revised the draft text. The delegates of the Member States agreed on most of the articles of the draft text and suggested some amendments on few articles. The draft text will be communicated to the Member States through the Secretariat and they will convey their position on the suggested amendment on the articles within two months.
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