Development of adaptive technology, transfer of critical technology, capacity building and beneficial partnership are crucially important to ensure proper use of marine resources of the Bay of Bengal to build up a Blue Economy.
A two-day international workshop, held in the city last week, called for developing Bay of Bengal partnership for Blue Economy to secure sustainable development among the coastal states. Organised for the first time in the country, the workshop brought together more than 30 experts and representatives from 20 countries.
Bangladesh hosted the event as its absolute right over more than 118,813 square kilometres of waters in the Bay of Bengal, comprising territorial sea and exclusive economic zone extending out to 200 nautical miles, has been established recently through international adjudications.
For Bangladesh, Blue Economy needs to be inclusive and people-centric. For this is needed to create a robust 'maritime domain awareness' among the people at large, communities and policymakers.
Financial analysts believe that finance, including innovative financing, has to be facilitated for securing Blue Growth, and it should not be left to market mechanism. Private sector-friendly policy framework is also needed to attract critical private investment for Blue Economy. Collaboration among various countries needs to take place based on certain universal principles of engagement: mutual trust, respect, mutual benefits and equitable sharing of benefits.
There are, however, a number of challenges that need to be addressed for getting equal share of benefits from resources of the Bay of Bengal. The challenges are sustainability in terms of security and human livelihood, capacity building to protect and preserve maritime resources, technology and knowledge gap, equitable and beneficial partnership and effective governance in terms of policy, strategies for overall maritime and related sectors.
Bangladesh is destined to be economically benefited by properly using the Blue Economy as did many developed countries in the world. Blue Economy, for example, has created jobs for 5.6 million people in the European Union (EU) and contributed 495 billion euros, larger than the size of economy of Belgium.
Last week, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the Bay of Bengal could be used as the determinant of Bangladesh's future development and economic growth through expansion of international trade, use of marine mineral resources for long term energy security, proper management of marine fish resources and protection of biodiversity and marine environment.
In fact, there is a need for creating skilled manpower to extract marine resources from the country's huge sea area. Bangladesh has a huge stock of living and non-living resources available under the seabed and water column. But the country has a dearth of skilled manpower to ascertain the availability of such resources and explore the resources.
In a way, the Bay of Bengal can be the country's 'third neighbour'. The marine-based economic activities through Blue Economy alongside the existing land-based development activities could expedite the development of the coastal countries like Bangladesh and the developing coastal states.
There is no denying that the sea resources play a crucial role in various economic activities including poverty alleviation, achieving self-sufficiency in food production, maintaining environmental balance and facing the adverse impacts of climate change. As a coastal country of the Bay of Bengal, the interests of Bangladesh are associated with the sea.
Marine experts say the government must adopt an integrated framework involving the private sector for rapid acceleration of the activities in the field of trade and investment. The country needs to develop expertise and skilled manpower to explore the resources like high-value fishes, energy, heavy minerals and so on.
In fact, seas around the globe meet the protein demands of 1.0 billion people in the developed countries. And 90 per cent of the world's 350 million fishermen live in the developing countries. The global market size of the fishes is around US$25 billion. The maritime transport sector has now become the source of employment for 14 million people while global costal tourism industry players make a business of US$ 1.3 trillion a year.
An intensive study on resources in the Bay is urgently needed as many people and businesses here are not yet familiar with the concept of Blue Economy. If the country moves forward to this effect, various forms of businesses, including coastal shipping, tourism, banking and insurance, will be created. It will ultimately create jobs for thousands of people. There is also a need for redesigning of some of the blocks for energy exploration before their bidding. Some research vessels are also required in this connection.
The country needs to adopt short-, mid-and long-term plans of action to reap benefits from Blue Economy resources. As part of the short-term planning, capacity building must be given top priority by paying serious attention to research and innovation.
szkhan@dhaka.net
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