BIMSTEC

BIMSTEC is acronym for Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. It is a regional organization comprising 7 member countries - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. As it is evident from the name of the initiative, it aims at technical and economic cooperation among member countries in several sectors. It was established on 06 June 1997 with the signing of the Bangkok Declaration, initially known as BIST-EC (Bangladesh-India-Sri Lanka-Thailand Economic Cooperation). With admission of Myanmar on 22 December 1997, and Bhutan and Nepal in February 2004, came to be know as BIMSTEC.