Colombo: A five-nation regional grouping of countries close to the Bay of Bengal, including India, began a ministerial meeting on trade and technology collaboration, with Sri Lanka stressing for a regional free trade area.

Inaugurating the fifth ministerial-level meeting of Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand – Economic Co-operation (BIMST-EC), Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe suggested that the grouping should meet in future at the level of heads of government to make the body more effective.

Foreign Ministers of all countries, except India, are attending the meet, while Commerce and Industry and Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie is representing India.

Nepal is an observer at the conference.

"While there are a number of important ways in which BIMST-EC members can co- operate, the most important, economically, will be the establishment of a free trade area," Wickremesinghe said in his address.

He said preferential trade groups often failed to deliver their promised economic benefits, mostly due to the "desire of a few to maintain protection and the financial rewards that brings, while stealing the benefits of the many".

"The challenge facing BIMST-EC is to bear the odds and create a free trade area that actually delivers free trade and leads to a stronger economic foundation for our region," he said.

PTI