The Eighth BIMSTEC Task Force on Traditional Medicine (BTFTM) meeting was held virtually on 06 October 2026 in the main auditorium of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, hosted by Sri Lanka.
Representatives of the BIMSTEC Secretariat and of the Member States Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Thailand took part in the meeting through the online mode. Officials of the Ministry of Health and Mass Media and the Department of Ayurveda of Sri Lanka also joined the occasion.
The main objective of the meeting was to review the progress in implementing the action plan prepared for the development of the traditional medicine sector in the BIMSTEC region, and to discuss the way forward.
Accordingly, attention was given to several matters aimed at sharing knowledge on traditional medicine, promoting research and innovation, and further strengthening cooperation among Member States.
Among the main matters discussed were a review of the progress in developing the BIMSTEC Traditional Medicine Portal, intended for sharing information and knowledge on traditional medicine across the region; a discussion on the proposed BIMSTEC Centre of Excellence in traditional medicine, Traditional Medicine Innovation and Research; consideration of the report and summary of the Second BIMSTEC Nodal Group Meeting; and consideration of the report and summary of the conference held on Traditional Medicine Knowledge (TMK), Genetic Resources (GR) and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).
