The Eighth BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 18-19 December 2005 decided to add Environment and Disaster Management as one of the priority areas of cooperation of BIMSTEC. Subsequently, Disaster Management has now become a high priority area of cooperation for BIMSTEC as the region is amongst the most disaster prone regions in the world and is home to almost one fourth of the World’s total population.

The Fourth BIMSTEC Summit held in Kathmandu, Nepal on 30-31 August 2018 decided to establish an intergovernmental Expert Group to develop a plan of action to improve preparedness and coordination for responding to natural disasters in the Bay of Bengal region.

Disaster Management sub-sector conducts its business through the BIMSTEC Expert Group Meeting on Disaster Management Cooperation. The First Meeting of the BIMSTEC Expert Group on Disaster Management Cooperation held virtually in New Delhi, India on 12 May 2022 finalized the Concept Note on BIMSTEC Disaster Management Cooperation. The Meeting also agreed to develop the “BIMSTEC Plan of Action to improve Preparedness and Coordination for responding to Natural Disasters in the Bay of Bengal Region”. As of now, all Member States except Bangladesh have forwarded their inputs to prepare the said Plan of action. The 2nd Meeting of the BIMSTEC Expert Group on Disaster Management Cooperation will discuss and finalize the BIMSTEC Plan of Action to improve Preparedness and Coordination for responding to Natural Disasters in the Bay of Bengal Region.