While addressing a function marking the golden jubilee of enacting the law titled “The Territorial Waters and Maritime Zones Act, 1974” Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked the authorities concerned to go for extracting marine resources from the country’s vast maritime zones maintaining friendly relations with the neighbouring countries to tap potential of the “Blue Economy” for the country’s socio-economic advancement.
The Prime Minister has pertinently said that we have to be cautious in extracting our marine resources and in continuing trade and business using seaways maintaining our foreign policy– Friendship to all, malice towards none. Stronger diplomacy has to be applied in doing this maintaining friendly relations with the neighbouring countries.
Dhaka is working to promote smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and employment opportunities in the Blue Economy activities along the Indian Ocean belt. We know the inter-governmental organisation Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) was established in 1997 with 21 countries bordering the Indian Ocean – Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Japan, Germany, China, the UK, the US, France, and Egypt are the dialogue partners of IORA.
Government will have to
take the required measures to leverage
the potential of
the blue economy
It aims at mapping the works that already have been done and also further works that need to be undertaken to secure inclusive and balanced promotion, protection and conservation of the marine resources in the Indian Ocean.
We think this is the time to further nurture various areas of blue economy such as aquaculture, marine tourism, private sector’s involvement in infrastructure, port network, financial inclusion, the sustainable exploration and exploitation of various living and non-living resources from the seas and tackling the menace of marine pollution and plastic debris. The government will have to take the required measures to leverage the potential of the blue economy to further expedite the country’s development. It has already declared marine resources as the Blue Economy.
The Bay of Bengal is a part of the Indian Ocean and international commerce in going on using this seaway.
We can make our economy more vibrant, stronger and solid using the marine resources. So, we have to take various measures to this end.
The country’s economy is advancing towards prosperity with gaining cherished strength despite the economy has suffered a setback due to the Coronavirus.
We have to explore the marine resources from the maritime areas we achieved. We have to use the vast marine resources for the socio-economic development of Bangladesh.
Therefore, we think apart from Bangladesh, IORA member states will have to build a unified sustainable blue economic belt in this region by making best use of the untapped resources of the sea. There are great opportunities to accelerate the sustainable development process of the respective countries of the region through blue economy approach making best use of the unused or untapped resources of the sea.
