General Knowledge / BIMSTEC Summits

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an international organisation of seven nations of South Asia and South East Asia, housing 1.5 billion people and having a combined gross domestic product of $3.5 trillion (2018).

The BIMSTEC member states
1. Bangladesh
2. India
3. Myanmar
4. Sri Lanka
5. Thailand.
6. Nepal.
7. Bhutan —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. A BIMSTEC free trade agreement is under negotiation. Leadership is rotated in alphabetical order of country names. The permanent secretariat is in Dhaka.

BIMSTEC priority sectors
Priority Area Lead Country Centre
Transport and communication India
Tourism India BIMSTEC Tourism Information Centre, Delhi
Counterterrorism and transnational crime India
Environment and disaster management India BIMSTEC Weather and Climate Centre, NOIDA
Energy India BIMSTEC Energy Centre, Bengaluru
Public Health Thailand BIMSTEC Network of Traditional Medicine in India
Agriculture Myanmar
Trade & Investment Bangladesh
Technology Sri Lanka
Fisheries Thailand
People-to-People Contact Thailand
Poverty Alleviation Nepal
Climate Change Bangladesh
Cultural Cooperation Bhutan


BIMSTEC Summits
S. No Date Host country Host city
1st 31 July 2004 Thailand Bangkok
2nd 13 November 2008 India New Delhi
3rd 4 March 2014 Myanmar Naypyidaw
4th 30, 31 August 2018 Nepal Kathmandu
5th TBD Sri Lanka Colombo


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