Bangladesh should devise mid- and long-term strategies to explore ‘blue economy’ as the country’s maritime resources remained untapped despite the victory against neighbouring countries in the international tribunal in maritime boundaries in 2014.
President of the Dutch-Bangla Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DBCCI) Md. Anwar Shawkat Afser expressed this view while speaking at 22nd annual general meeting (AGM) of the DBCCI at a city hotel on Sunday.
Speakers said "Bangladesh has targeted to increase the contribution of the blue economy to GDP by 9% in 2025 and 10% by 2030. According to some estimates Bangladesh has 120 trillion-dollar ocean resources which could make Bangladesh an Asian superpower."
Bangladesh's development progress is dependent on its capacities to explore the untapped maritime potentials after the great victory against Myanmar and India in maritime boundaries.
He said proper utilisation of the blue economy -- resource exploration and resource exploitation—can will contribute substantiality to the national economy.
As the Netherlands has vast experience in exploring sea sources, Bangladesh can offer the EU country in tapping the blue economy on a win-win basis, said Md. Anwar Shawkat Afser
Md. Anwar Shawkat Afser highlighted the upcoming event of DBCCI namely “BIDA-DBCCI Trade & Investment Delegation to the Netherlands 2022”.
He also mentioned of the plan to celebrate the journey of two-decade of DBCCI to attract Dutch investment in Bangladesh
In 2020, Bangladesh exported $1.46 billion to the Netherlands. The main products that Bangladesh exported to Netherlands are Knit T-shirts ($221M), Non-Knit Men's Suits ($179M), and Non-Knit Women's Suits ($151M). During the last 25 years the exports of Bangladesh to Netherlands have increased at an annualized rate of 9.59%, from $148M in 1995 to $1.46B in 2020.
According to Bangladesh Bank (BB) data, the country received $2.56 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) last year, of which the share of the Dutch investment was $400.21 million (15.61 per cent of the total investment)
Md. Atiqul Haque, Senior Vice President Vice, Shakawat Hossain Mamun, Vice President-1, Md. Shahid Alam, Vice President-2, Ataus Sopan Malik, Secretary General, Muhammad Risalat Siddique, Joint Secretary General, Noafel Bin Reza, Director Finance, among others, attended the meeting.
