A decision was taken in this regard at the ministerial level meeting on the first day of the two-day summit of the regional grouping in the Thai capital yesterday.

The decision was taken considering the recent joining of Bhutan and Nepal, said Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan who led the Bangladesh delegation to the ministerial level meeting.

The heads of government from the seven member countries are expected to formally approve the new name of the South and South-East Asian grouping in the second and concluding day of the summit today.

Earlier, senior official level meeting of the BIMST-EC finalised the new name and forwarded it to the ministerial meeting. Foreign Secretary Shamsher M Chowdhury led the Bangladesh delegation to the official level meet in the morning.

The foreign ministers of the seven member countries agreed to introduce BIMSTEC business travel card or visa to enhance trade and commerce within the region. The ministerial meeting decided to form BIMSTEC Chamber of Commerce comprising representatives from all member countries.

It decided to set up BIMSTEC Centre, the headquarters of the organisation, in Bangkok and a biomass gas plant in Myanmar, Zahirul Haq, Director General of External Publicity told the BSS quoting the meeting sources.

The ministers agreed to explore cooperation in the areas of public health, education, rural community development, small and medium scale enterprise, construction, environment, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), biotechnology and weather and climate research, and natural disaster mitigation and management.