Bangladesh has sought access to “equitable sharing” of marine resources, especially in areas beyond national jurisdiction to fully realize the potentials of the Blue Economy for the country’s socio-economic development.
Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN Ambassador Rabab Fatima sought cooperation of International Seabed Authority (ISA) in this regard.
“To fully realize the potentials of the Blue Economy for our socio-economic development, we would require access to equitable sharing of marine resources, especially in areas beyond national jurisdiction,” she said.
She was speaking at the “Ambassadorial Briefing on Equitable sharing of benefits from sustainable development of seabed resources: Opportunities for LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS” in New York, the foreign ministry said on Saturday.
The ISA and the chairs of LDCs, LLDCs and AOSIS jointly organised the event to brief member states about the initiatives taken by ISA to ensure equitable sharing of benefits from the development of deep sea-bed resources.
ISA Secretary-General Michael W. Lodge highlighted the work being done by them in developing regulatory framework for deep sea mining, awarding contracts for exploration of mineral resources and most importantly building capacity that can address the needs of LDCs, LLDCs and SIDs and support them achieving Sustainable Development Goals.
Bangladesh is prioritizing on unleashing the full potentials of ocean resources and has made the Blue Economy the new frontier.
Ambassador Rabab Fatima, in her speech, said developing countries need support for capacity building and knowledge transfer, particularly in the form of capacity building, training and research.
She also spoke about the importance of investment in developing countries to explore the ocean resources for their development.
She said Bangladesh would work closely with the ISA in this regard.
