BIMSTEC Chamber of Commerce to be formed

KATHMANDU, AUGUST 8: A decision has been made to form the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) Chamber of Commerce. This decision was reached today at a meeting held during the BIMSTEC Business Summit in New Delhi, India. It was attended by presidents and representatives of chambers of commerce from all seven member countries of the regional bloc: Nepal, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, and Sri Lanka.

Apart from the Secretary-General of BIMSTEC, Indra Mani Pandey,  Past President of the FNCCI Bhawani Rana and its current Senior Vice President Anjan Shrestha were also present in the meeting

The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) will be a founding member of the proposed chamber, representing Nepal.

Speaking during the meeting, FNCCI President Chandra Prasad Dhakal expressed his happiness that the chamber was about to be formed as per his proposal made last year. He called for the immediate formation and implementation of the chamber's constitution.

According to the proposal, one chamber from each member nation will be included in the BIMSTEC Chamber of Commerce. The BIMSTEC Chamber is expected to accelerate the formation and implementation of the BIMSTEC Free Trade Agreement.

During the meeting, the Confederation of Indian Industry proposed that the secretariat of the BIMSTEC Chamber be established at its office in New Delhi. The presidency of the chamber will be held on a rotational basis.