BIMSTEC
Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (in other languages)
BIMSTEC | |||||||||||||||||
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Flag
Emblem
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Location of BIMSTEC in Asia | |||||||||||||||||
| Headquarters | Dhaka, Bangladesh 23°45′50″N 90°23′20″E / 23.76389°N 90.38889°E | ||||||||||||||||
| Largest city | Mumbai, India 19°04′34″N 72°52′39″E / 19.07611°N 72.87750°E | ||||||||||||||||
| Working language | English | ||||||||||||||||
| Official languages of contracting states | |||||||||||||||||
| Type | Regional organisation | ||||||||||||||||
| Membership | |||||||||||||||||
| Leaders | |||||||||||||||||
• Chairmanship | Bangladesh (since March 2025) | ||||||||||||||||
• Secretary General | India (since 2023) | ||||||||||||||||
| Establishment | 6 June 1997 | ||||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||||
• Total | 4,876,941 km2 (1,882,997 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||||||
• 2025 estimate | 1.777 billion | ||||||||||||||||
• Density | 364.4/km2 (943.8/sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 to +7:00 | ||||||||||||||||
Website bimstec | |||||||||||||||||
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an international organization 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). The BIMSTEC member states – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand – are among the countries dependent on the Bay of Bengal.
Fourteen priority sectors of cooperation have been identified and several BIMSTEC centers have been established to focus on those sectors. As of 2018, BIMSTEC free trade agreement is under negotiation, considered similar to SAARC.
Leadership is rotated in alphabetical order of country names. The permanent secretariat is in Dhaka, Bangladesh.