Intra-regional trade of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Trade and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) dropped slightly in the past year.
Trade statistics, calculated by the FE from International Trade Centre (ITC) Trade Map, showed that value of intra-regional trade stood at $72.76 billion in 2016 which was $74.52 billion in 2015.
Thus BIMSTEC’s ratio with the global trade stood at 6.19 per cent in the past year which was almost similar in the previous year. 
In fact, BIMSTEC’s intra-region trade reached its highest level in 2014 when the value stood at $80.59 billion.
BIMSTEC is a regional bloc comprising seven member countries of South and South-East Asia — Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. 
On June 6 this year, BIMSTEC officially completed 20th year of its journey and entered into 21st year. 
There was a schedule to establish the BIMSTEC free trade area by 2017. By revising the deadline twice, the member countries now agreed to complete the full elimination of tariff by 2027. 
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Source: The Financial Express