Tenzin Lekphell, one of the founders of Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa, is the next Secretary-General of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). The government nominated him and the Foreign Secretaries of the member countries accepted it during the 21st session of the BIMSTEC Senior Officials Meeting held recently.
Tenzin Lekphell also served as the General Secretary of DNT and was the party’s candidate from Bartsham-Shongphu during the 2013 and 2018 parliamentary elections. According to Foreign Minister Dr Tandi Dorji, it is a political appointment meaning the government has the choice to nominate and all member countries must confirm the nomination.
A press release from BIMSTEC on 2nd September stated that ‘the Foreign Secretaries welcomed Mr Tenzin Lekphel from Bhutan for the position of next Secretary-General of BIMSTEC.’ The BIMSTEC secretariat will now propose a meeting of foreign ministers to endorse the nomination.
The post of BIMSTEC’s Secretary-General rotates among the seven member countries of Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, and this time it is Bhutan’s turn.
The tenure of the Secretary-General is for a non-renewable term of three years.
Kinley Dem
