Dhaka: M Shahidul Islam, now serving as Bangladesh Ambassador to France, has been appointed as the next Secretary General of Bimstec.

Shahidul Islam's appointment was confirmed on Thursday at the eighteenth session of the Bimstec Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) held in Kathmandu, Nepal, a senior official told UNB.

In 2012, Ambassador Sumith Nakandala was nominated as the first Secretary General of Bimstec and he assumed the charge of the Secretary General on August 10, 2014. His tenure ended on August 9, 2017.

Bay of Bengal Initiatives for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) is the sub-regional grouping comprising seven countries of South Asia and South East Asia.

Nepal is the current Chair of the Bimstec while its Secretariat is located in Dhaka.

Earlier, the government nominated Shahidul Islam and shared the proposed name with Bimstec member states through Bimstec Secretariat.

Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque led the Bangladesh side at the 18th session of the Bimstec senior officials' meeting.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali will lead Bangladesh at the 15th Bimstec Ministerial meeting to be held on Friday.

The meeting is likely to finalise date for the next Bimstec Summit, too.