The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an intergovernmental organization established on 6 June 1997 through the signing of the Declaration on the Establishment of the Bangladesh– India–Sri Lanka–Thailand Economic Cooperation (BIST-EC) in Bangkok by Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. After Myanmar joined in December 1997, the grouping was renamed BIMSTEC (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand Economic Cooperation). With the accession of Nepal and Bhutan in 2004, it assumed its present name: the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi- Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).