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BIMSTEC Article Talk Read Edit View history Tools Appearance Text Small Standard Large Width Standard Wide Color (beta) Automatic Light Dark From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (in other languages) BIMSTEC Flag of BIMSTEC Flag[2] Emblem[1] of BIMSTEC Emblem[1] Location of BIMSTEC in Asia Location of BIMSTEC in Asia Secretariat Dhaka, Bangladesh[3] Official language English Membership Bangladesh Bhutan India Myanmar Nepal Sri Lanka Thailand Leaders • Chairmanship Thailand (since March 2022)[4] • Secretary General India (since 2023)[5] Establishment 6 June 1997; 27 years ago Area • Total 4,876,941 km2 (1,882,997 sq mi) (7th) Population • 2020 estimate 1,723,388,648[6] • Density 353.37/km2 (915.2/sq mi) GDP (PPP) estimate • Total Increase US$18.582 trillion[7] (3rd) GDP (nominal) 2023 estimate • Total Increase $5.225 trillion[7] (4th) Website bimstec.org The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an international organisation of seven South Asian and Southeast Asian nations, housing 1.73 billion people and having a combined gross domestic product of US$5.2 trillion (2023).[8][9] The BIMSTEC member states – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand[10] – are among the countries dependent on the Bay of Bengal. Fourteen priority sectors of cooperation have been identified and several BIMSTEC centres have been established to focus on those sectors.[8][11] A BIMSTEC free trade agreement is under negotiation (c. 2018), referred to as similar to SAARC. Leadership is rotated in alphabetical order of country names. The permanent secretariat is in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Background

On 6 June 1997, a new sub-regional grouping was formed in Bangkok under the name BIST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand Economic Cooperation).[12][13] Following the inclusion of Myanmar on 22 December 1997 during a special Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok, the Group was renamed 'BIMST-EC' (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation). In 1998, Nepal became an observer. In February 2004, Nepal and Bhutan became full members.

On 31 July 2004, in the first Summit the grouping was renamed as BIMSTEC or the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation.[14] Objective