Bangladesh has signed a $240 million financing agreement with the World Bank to help improve management and production in marine and coastal fisheries and aquaculture.
An agreement was signed between Bangladesh and World Bank at the conference room of the Economic Relations Division in the capital on Thursday. Kazi Shofiqul Azam, Senior Secretary, Economic Relations Division and Zahid Hussain, World Bank acting Country Director for Bangladesh signed the deal on behalf of their respective organization.
“In the last decade, the fisheries sector accounted for around 4% of the Bangladesh’s economy and is the country’s second largest export earning sector after garments,” said Qimiao Fan, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.
World Bank financing will aim to expand coastal and marine fisheries with the goal of further increasing the fisheries sector’s contribution to the economy, said Qimiao.
The Sustainable and Marine Fisheries Project will help improve fisheries management systems, infrastructure, value chain investments, and encourage private sector investment to increase the availability and quality of sea fish. It will also support reforms in fisheries policies and regulations.
“For Bangladesh, the fisheries sector is a major driver for growth. The marine and coastal fisheries have significant potential for sustainable and higher production,” said Kazi Shofiqul Azam,. “The project will directly contribute to Bangladesh’s Blue Economy initiatives.”
Under the project, the project will set up community co-management associations with fishing communities in 16 coastal districts,, enabling them to adopt supplementary and alternative livelihoods.
While empowering fishing communities, especially women through skills development and nutrition awareness, the project will also establish 100 model fishing villages.
The current fisher identity card system will be expanded under the project and linked with the geographic information system platform.
In addition, Vessel registration and licensing for fishing will also be improved. In addition, the project will help the government conduct stock surveys and assessments for shrimp and sea fish stocks and strengthen monitoring systems for industrial and artisanal fisheries.
