BANGLADESH

FM calls for investment to tap blue economy

Foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen called for investment at various wings of blue economy putting special emphasis on mariculture as 88 percent of the country’s fishing zone is still untapped.

“So far we have penetrated about only 12% of total fishing zone .. 88% area is still untapped … it’s a limitless opportunity (for investors),” he said.

The foreign minister was speaking at the business session titled ‘Blue Economy: Discover the Future’ of the ‘International Investment Summit 2021 Bangladesh’ as the Session Chair in the capital on Sunday afternoon.

Dr Momen said, only 120 out of 475 species of white fishes, available in the Bay of Bengal, are being caught while only 6 to 7 among 36 species of shrimps are available for catching as the country’s deep sea fishing capacity only reaches 50-60 nautical mile.

“These data shows that there is plenty of opportunities to make money,” he told the potential local and international investors.

Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the minister said the present government has taken the Blue Economy issue with great importance.

“Sheikh Hasina’s government is business friendly and I can assure you that the Government of Bangladesh is keen to offer a conducive, friendly and safe environment for investment in Bangladesh in the different sectors of the economy,” Dr Momen said.

He said nine maritime economic functions have been identified including fishery, maritime trade and shipping, energy and marine tourism while the government has adopted a ‘Blue Economy Development Work Plan’.

“We need necessary capacity building and investment for getting most out of these identified sectors,” he added.

With the rise of global shipbuilding orders of large vessels every year, Dr Momen said, a highly prospective market is emerging for Bangladesh with increasing demands for small and medium sea-going vessels.

“As per World Trade Organization (WTO), global shipbuilding market size is US$ 1,600 billion. If only 1% market share can be captured by Bangladesh, it will be worth US$ 16 billion,” he said.

Secondly, he said, If Bangladesh can grab one percent of the global order for only small ships market the amount will be worth US$ 4 billion.

Recently, he said, the government has introduced Shipbuilding Industry Development Policy-2020 aimed at earning $4.0 billion annually from ship exports by the year 2025 by creating a facilitating environment for backward linkage industries.

“The government is committed to provide fund for the entrepreneurs in this regard,” he added.

“Our gas and oil are open for International Oil Companies,” he said adding that Bangladesh is already in the process of conducting seismic survey.

He also urged enterprises to invest in marine tourism to grab the attention of both local and international tourists.

Dr Momen said Blue Economy has also become a critical part for climate change mitigation, adaptation and disaster resilience.

Bangladesh is committed to maintain the balance between ‘consumption’ and ‘conservation’ in its quest to exploit and explore marine resources,” he added.

“Our pursuit of Blue Economy is rooted back to the leadership of the greatest Bangalee of all time Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,”
he said.

In 1974, he said, realizing the importance of the sea and its potential maritime resources, Bangabandhu first adopted ‘The Territorial Waters and Maritime Zones Act, 1974’, in order to set the limit of the ‘Maritime Zones’ of Bangladesh and to conduct different activities within the limit and also to search for sea resources.

The foreign minister said international community even did not have sufficient ideas on this issue at that time.

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