The cabinet of ministers approved a proposal made by Minister of Social Empowerment and welfare S.B.Dissanayake to hold the third meeting in Sri Lanka . The first ministerial meeting was held in Bangaladesh in 2008 while the second meeting was held in Nepal in 2013

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an international organisation involving a group of countries in South Asia and South East Asia. These are: Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.