Bangladesh seeks regional cooperation for the blue economy, focusing on maritime resources, to boost the activities related to employment generation and contribution to economic activities.
Fisheries, tourism and renewable energy are the areas where Bangladesh seeks cooperation.
The idea was floated at the Indian Ocean Rim Association [IORA] ministerial meeting held in Australia last week.
“Our idea has been supported by IORA members and a paper will be circulated among them for their opinions,” Maritime Affairs Unit Secretary M Khurshed Alam told the Dhaka Tribune.
Alam led the Bangladesh delegation and discussed the blue economy and other issues at the IORA senior official meeting and ministerial meeting.
The member countries will discuss Bangladesh’s issues in details in the next IORA meeting to be held in Indonesia in May next year, he said.
“We hope concrete steps will be taken in the meeting in Indonesia,” he added.
Bangladesh proposed setting aside contentious issues and working on non-sensitive issues so that all countries can cooperate with each other.
“Fisheries, tourism and renewable energy are harmless subjects. We have proposed that we can work together on these three broad areas,” Alam said.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh is set to float an idea of forming a regional bloc, Bay of Bengal Partnership for Blue Economy, to develop partnership to use marine resources in a sustainable manner.
The government has adopted a blue economy outlook after it resolved maritime boundary disputes with India and Myanmar.
The Maldives, Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia are coastal and littoral countries in the region.
Bangladesh and India had already agreed to work together for the development of the blue economy in the region.
The joint statement on Bangladesh-India Joint Consultative Commission held last month said: “Both countries also agreed to enhance cooperation in new areas, including nuclear science and technology, space, health, jute and textiles, renewable energy, maritime, fisheries, oceanography, meteorological, and other areas related to development of the blue economy in the region.”
Bangladesh won more than 118,813 sq km of waters altogether comprising territorial sea and an exclusive economic zone extending out to 200 nautical miles (370km).
It also has undeniable sovereign rights in the seabed extending as far as 354 nautical miles [around 656km] from Chittagong coast in the Bay of Bengal with all living and non-living resources.
The Bay of Bengal is the largest among 64 bays in the world and 1.4 billion people live along its coastline in Bangladesh, India, Thailand and Myanmar.
Some 30 million people of Bangladesh have had direct livelihood dependence on oceanic economic activities like fisheries and commercial transportation.
