PM For Using Huge Potential Of Sea Resources

"History of development of many countries tells us that the countries which utilized the sea and its resources became economically more prosperous than others. Bangladesh should be of no exception to this development," she said.

The Prime Minister was inaugurating a two-day "International Workshop on Blue Economy" at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in the capital this morning. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is organising the event.

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu, Environment and Forest Minister Anwar Hossain Manju, Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Sayedul Haque, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid Bipu and Assistant Director General of Food and Agriculture Organization Arnie Mathiesen also spoke on the occasion.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali delivered the welcome address.

Stressing the need for creating skilled manpower to extract marine resources from country's huge sea boundary, Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh has a huge stock of living and non-living resources available under the seabed and water column.

"But the country has a dearth of skilled manpower to ascertain the availability and explore the resources. So, we will have to create skilled manpower to explore marine resources from country's huge sea boundary," she said.

Besides, she said, there is also lack of proper technology for exploiting deep sea fishes and seabed resources.

She said the role of sea resources in various economic activities including poverty alleviation, achieving self-sufficiency in food production, maintaining environmental balance and facing adverse impact of climate change is unlimited.

Alongside the existing land-based development activities, Sheikh Hasina said, the marine-based economic activities and management of sea and its resources through Blue Economy may be considered as a new horizon for development of the coastal countries and the small island developing states.

She mentioned that the Bay of Bengal could be used as the determinant of Bangladesh's future development and economic growth through expansion of international trade, use of marine mineral resources for long term energy security, proper management of marine fish resources and protection of biodiversity and marine environment.

Noting that the economy of Bangladesh is totally sea borne, the Prime Minister said with 130 billion dollar GDP, Bangladesh's economy is the 44th in the world in terms of GDP.

Recalling the far-sighted initiatives of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman considering multifaceted and huge potential of country's sea resources, the Prime Minister said Bangabandhu enacted "The Territorial Waters and Maritime Zones Act, 1974" to establish rights of Bangladesh in the sea.

Sheikh Hasina said, as a country at the coast of the Bay of Bengal, the interests of Bangladesh are associated with the sea and the main obstacle to establish rights there was unsettled sea boundary with India and Myanmer.

"But successive governments did not take any realistic steps to solve the problem, rather created complexities on the issue. As a result, not only collection of sea resources was hindered, but also bilateral diplomatic relations with neighbouring countries were disrupted," she added.

Sheikh Hasina said it was her government that ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 2001 creating a huge opportunity for establishing Bangladesh's rights in the sea on the basis of international laws and regulations.

With the continuous efforts of her government, Sheikh Hasina said, Bangladesh won Maritime boundary cases with India and Myanmar by placing just demand in the internal maritime courts to end the longstanding dispute on the issue.

As a result, Bangladesh's sovereign rights in the sea have been established through the verdicts of the international courts against India and Myanmar, creating huge scopes to explore mineral resources from the seabed without any obstacle, she said.

Talking about excluding the name of Bangladesh from the list of highly risk zone for sea piracy, the Prime Minister said the International Maritime Beureu did it recently after long 20 years following the government's strong protest.

We have also taken appropriate measures to improve the capability of our coast guard in containing armed robbery at sea.

Steps have been taken to strengthen Bangladesh Navy and Coast Guards to contain armed robbery in the sea and illegal use of animal and mineral resources in the exclusive economic zones as well as to keep international sea line open and safeguard the free movement of commercial ships, she said.

The Prime Minister hoped that such initiatives would create opportunities for the international ships to come in the ports of Bangladesh.

She said sustainable development of Blue Economy is possible through utilization of the existing natural and mineral resources in the Bay of Bengal and its adjoining oceans. Sheikh Hasina said her government has taken steps to impart higher education on Oceanography at Dhaka University and Chittagong University to create skilled manpower on marine sciences.

The first National Oceanographic Research Institute' is being established at Ramu, Cox's Bazar to create a marine scientific community for research, she said.

In this context, she also placed emphasis on taking necessary steps with the assistance of industrialized countries to use modern technologies in these fields.

Referring to the contribution of the largest mangrove forest, 'Sundarbans' to protect the ecological balance, she said her government is taking steps to declare a certain region of the Bay of Bengal as a "marine protected area" for the protection of its marine environment and biodiversity.

Wishing success of the international workshop, Sheikh Hasina hoped that the recommendations from the workshop based on the experiences of the participants from home and abroad would help her government initiate appropriate steps to ensure economic emancipation through the sea resources in an ecosystem based approach.

-Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS)

Photo: Saiful Islam Kallol