Officials from seven South and Southeast Asian nations met today-Sunday in the capital of Bangladesh to discuss the formation of a regional free trade agreement.
Foreign secretaries of Burma, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Bangladesh worked in Dhaka to iron out final details of the pact for the trade group, known as the
Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, or BIMSTEC
During a BIMSTEC ministerial meeting Monday, the delegates will also discuss reports on six major sectors of the member countries. Those sectors include trade and investment, transport and communications, agriculture and fisheries, tourism, energy, and technology.
The trade pact is expected to come into effect in July of 2006.
Information for this report is provided by AP.
