Senior officials from Bimstec countries will meet in Thailand on Monday to finalise four key instruments tied to the BIMSTEC Free Trade Area.

Dhaka believes early realisation of the Bimstec FTA is crucial for promoting trade and investment in the area.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) is a regional organisation comprising Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.

Diplomatic sources said the three-day meeting of the Bimstec Trade Negotiation Committee (TNC) at Khon Kaen, Thailand will finalise the four agreements which are expected to be signed during the 6th Bimstec Trade and Economic Ministers Meeting in Dhaka in February or March next year.

The four instruments are: Agreement on Trade in Goods of the Framework Agreement on Bimstec Free Trade Area; Protocol to Amend the Framework Agreement on Bimstec Free Trade Area; Agreement on Dispute Settlement Procedures and Mechanism of the Framework Agreement on Bimstec Free Trade Area; and Agreement on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters for Bimstec Free Trade area.

Munir Chowdhury, joint secretary (FTA-1) of the commerce ministry, will lead a seven-member Bangladesh delegation to the 20th TNC meeting. The team is composed of senior officials of law, finance and foreign affairs ministries, National Board of Revenue and Bangladesh Tariff Commission.

The ministers of economics and trade of the Bimstec countries on February 8, 2004 had signed a framework agreement in Phuket, Thailand to establish a free trade area by 2012 and promote economic cooperation.

Talking to The Daily Star on Thursday, a senior foreign ministry official said Dhaka wants to see talks on investment and services have been fast-tracked as the Bimstec members are seeing impressive trends in economic growth.

To sustain the growth, the member countries need to secure a stable and affordable energy supply through exploration and utilisation of the regional energy resources which are core priorities for the Bimstec, he added.

Bangladesh is likely to host a taskforce meeting on energy in February next year. A memorandum of understanding on Bimstec energy and grid interconnection is likely to be finalised during the meeting to help foster cooperation in the energy sector.

The ministry official said the MoU on the grid interconnection has already been finalized. The deal is likely to be signed by the Bimstec energy ministers during a meeting in Nepal.

Regional connectivity is another area of cooperation which is likely to flourish from increased cooperation. This would facilitate trade, investment, tourism and people-to-people contact among the member states, he mentioned.