The fifteenth Bimstec Ministerial Meeting will be held in Kathmandu, Nepal today, which is likely to decisions on free trade agreement (FTA), energy cooperation and next summit, reports UNB. Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba will inaugurate the ministerial meeting which will also finalise the date for the next Bimstec Summit.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali will lead the Bangladesh delegation at the meeting, a senior official told the news agency. The eighteenth session of Bimstec Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) was held yesterday. Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque led the Bangladesh side at the meeting. Bimstec (Bay of Bengal Initiatives for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) is a sub-regional grouping comprising seven countries of South Asia and South East Asia.

Nepal is the current chair of Bimstec. Its Secretariat is located in Dhaka. The Foreign and External Affairs Ministers will make a collective call on the Prime Minister of Nepal before or after the meeting.

The SOM discussed matters relating to the formation of Eminent Persons' Group (EPG), Bimstec FTA, and MoU for the Establishment of Bimstec Grid Interconnection, among others, and prepare agenda for the ministerial meeting.

The ministerial meeting will review the progress and achievements in the identified 15 areas of cooperation, and discuss the ways to accelerate the cooperation under the Bimstec process, according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nepal.