Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation

Regional · BIMSTEC

Because the charter counts dependence on the Bay of Bengal for trade and transport as a qualification for joining, two landlocked states sit among its members. The declaration signed at Bangkok on 6 June 1997 covered four countries and six sectors of cooperation. Myanmar was admitted that December, Bhutan and Nepal in February 2004, and the charter took effect on 20 May 2024.

Questions about BIMSTEC

Which countries are in BIMSTEC?

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand signed the founding declaration at Bangkok on 6 June 1997, Myanmar was admitted on 22 December 1997, and Bhutan and Nepal were admitted in February 2004. Article 4 of the charter signed at Colombo on 30 March 2022 names the same states, and no country has joined or left since.

Why are Bhutan and Nepal in a Bay of Bengal grouping when neither has a coast?

Because the admission test does not require one. Article 6 of the charter asks an applicant to satisfy territorial contiguity to the Bay of Bengal, or direct opening into it, or primary dependence on it for trade and transport purposes. The third limb covers a landlocked state whose trade moves through the Bay. Both countries lie in the catchment that reaches it through the Ganges and the Brahmaputra.

Does BIMSTEC have a free trade area?

Not in operation. The Framework Agreement on the BIMSTEC Free Trade Area was signed at Phuket on 8 February 2004, and Bangladesh became a party to it by a protocol concluded at Bangkok on 25 June 2004. The framework set tariff reduction timetables running from 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2017, but left the constituent agreements to be negotiated separately. Those remain unconcluded, and the summit declaration of 4 April 2025 directs the trade negotiating committee to finalise them.

What changed when the BIMSTEC Charter came into force?

The organisation acquired legal personality. Article 3 confers it on BIMSTEC as an inter-governmental body, which the Bangkok Declaration of 1997 had never done. The charter also fixed a summit every two years, decisions by consensus, an admission procedure, and a secretary general of ambassadorial rank serving one non-renewable term of three years by alphabetical rotation among member states. It entered into force on 20 May 2024, on the thirtieth day after the seventh ratification was deposited.

What has BIMSTEC actually put into force?

The charter, since 20 May 2024, and the Agreement on Maritime Transport Cooperation, which was signed at Bangkok on 3 April 2025 and took effect once four member states had ratified it. Bhutan, India and Thailand deposited their instruments first and Myanmar deposited the fourth on 13 May 2026, so the agreement binds those four and not the others. A motor vehicles agreement is still under negotiation.

Sources

History · BIMSTEC Secretariat. The Bangkok Declaration of 6 June 1997, the admission of Myanmar on 22 December 1997 and of Bhutan and Nepal in February 2004, the renaming at the first summit, the sectors of 1997 and 2008, and the lead country for each sector after the 2021 reorganisation.
BIMSTEC Charter · Signed at Colombo on 30 March 2022. Article 3 on legal personality, Article 6 on the admission of new members, Article 8 on the summit cycle and consensus, Article 14 on the secretary general, Article 25 on entry into force, and Article 35 on BIMSTEC Day.
Sixth BIMSTEC Summit Declaration, Bangkok, 4 April 2025 · Records the coming into force of the charter on 20 May 2024, the earlier summits and the Goa retreat of 16 October 2016, the direction to the trade negotiating committee on the free trade area, and the state of the Trilateral Highway and the motor vehicles agreement.
Framework Agreement on the BIMSTEC Free Trade Area · Signed at Phuket on 8 February 2004 by six governments. Article 3 carries the fast track and normal track timetables running from 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2017.
Protocol to the Framework Agreement on BIMST-EC Free Trade Area · Concluded at Bangkok on 25 June 2004. Makes Bangladesh a party to the framework agreement and a founding member of it, and amends the tariff timetables to include it.
Agreements, Conventions, MoUs · BIMSTEC Secretariat. Dates and venues for the memorandum of association on the permanent secretariat of 4 March 2014, the Master Plan for Transport Connectivity of 30 March 2022, and the Agreement on Maritime Transport Cooperation of 3 April 2025.
The BIMSTEC Agreement on Maritime Transport Cooperation (AMTC) enters into force · BIMSTEC Secretariat press release. The ratification threshold of four member states, the deposits by Bhutan, India and Thailand, and the fourth deposit by Myanmar on 13 May 2026.