Introduction, BIMSTEC Guiding Principles, Objective, BIMSTEC Agreements, BIMSTEC Summits and Current Members of the BIMSTEC Business Forum (BBF) of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).

1. Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral
Technical and Economic Cooperation
Dr. Gopal Krishna Rathore
Associate Professor
Mandsaur University
gopalk1983@gmail.com

3. Secretariat Dhaka, Bangladesh[1] Secretariat
Membership  Bangladesh
 Bhutan
 India
 Myanmar
 Nepal
 Sri Lanka
 Thailand
Membership
• Chairmanship Sri Lanka
(since September 2018)[2]
• Chairmanship
• Secretary General M Shahidul Islam
(Bangladesh) [3]
• Secretary General
Establishment 6 June 1997; 22 years ago Establishment
Secretariat Dhaka, Bangladesh[1] Secretariat

4. Introduction
 The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic
Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization comprising seven
Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of
Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity.
 The BIMSTEC member states—Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri
Lanka, Thailand , Nepal and Bhutan [6]—are among the countries
dependent on the Bay of Bengal.
 The regional group constitutes a bridge between South and South East
Asia and represents a reinforcement of relations among these countries.
BIMSTEC has also established a platform for intra-regional cooperation
between SAARC and ASEAN members. The BIMSTEC region is home to
around 1.5 billion people which constitute around 22% of the global
population with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of 2.7 trillion
economy.

6.  BIMSTEC Guiding Principles
 The organization functions as per the founding principles of
BIMSTEC as laid down in the Bangkok Declaration of 6 June 1997
and directions given by the Leaders of the Member States.
 The founding principles of BIMSTEC are as under:
 Cooperation within BIMSTEC will be based on respect for the
principle of sovereign equality, territorial integrity, political
independence, no-interference in internal affairs, peaceful co-
existence and mutual benefit.
 Cooperation within BIMSTEC will constitute an addition to and not
be a substitute for bilateral, regional or multilateral cooperation
involving the Member States.

7. Objective
There are 14 main sectors of BIMSTEC along technological and economic cooperation
among south Asian and southeast Asian countries along the coast of the Bay of Bengal.
1. Trade & Investment
2. Transport & Communication
3. Energy
4. Tourism
5. Technology
6. Fisheries
7. Agriculture
8. Public Health
9. Poverty Alleviation
10. Counter-Terrorism & Transnational Crime
11. Environment & Disaster Management
12. People-to-People Contact
13. Cultural Cooperation
14. Climate Change

8. Sectors 7 to 13 were added at the 8th Ministerial Meeting in
Dhaka in 2005 while the 14th sector was added in 11th
Ministerial Meeting in New Delhi in 2008.
Member nations are denoted as Lead Countries for each sector.
1. Provides cooperation to one another for the provision of
training and research facilities in educational vocational and
technical fields,
2. Promote active collaboration and mutual assistance in
economic, social ,technical and scientific fields of common
interest,
3. Provides help to increase the socio-economic growth of the
member countries.

9. BIMSTEC Agreements
 BIMSTEC Free Trade Area Framework Agreement (BFTAFA) has
been signed by all member nations to stimulate trade and investment in
the parties, and attract outsiders to trade with and invest in BIMSTEC at a
higher level.
 BIMSTEC Coastal Shipping Agreement draft was discussed on 1
December 2017 at New Delhi, to facilitate coastal shipping within 20
nautical miles of the coastline in the region to boost trade between the
member countries. Compared to the deep sea shipping, coastal ship
require smaller vessels with lesser draft and involve lower costs. Once the
agreement becomes operational after it is ratified, a lot of cargo
movement between the member countries can be done through the cost
effective, environment friendly and faster coastal shipping routes.

10.  BIMSTEC Summits
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[20]
4th 30, 31 August 2018 Nepal Kathmandu[21]
5th 2022 Sri Lanka Colombo[2][22]

11.  Current Members of the BIMSTEC Business Forum
(BBF) are as follows:
Country Member
• Bangladesh The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI)
• Bhutan Bhutan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI)
• India The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM)
• Myanmar Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI)
• Nepal Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI)
• Sri Lanka National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (NCCSL)
• Thailand Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Trade of Thailand

12. For more details, search on the following link - https://bimstec.org/?page_id=264
Thank you