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

an international organisation of 7 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 member states are —Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand , Nepal and Bhutan

the permanent secretariat is in Dhaka,Bangladesh

leadership is rotated in alphabetical order of country names

14 priority sectors of cooperation have been identified and several BIMSTEC centres have been established to focus on those sector

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