Bangladesh seeks international cooperation to make 'blue economy' a success

Bangladesh has sought cooperation of International Seabed Authority (ISA) to utilise the potentials of the blue economy regarding the country's socio-economic development.    

"To fully realise 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,"said the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN Ambassador Rabab Fatima while speaking at the "Ambassadorial Briefing on Equitable sharing of benefits from sustainable development of seabed resources: Opportunities for LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS" on June 25 in New York. 

Organised jointly by the ISA, and the chairs of Least developed countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), the purpose of the high level event was to brief member states about the initiatives taken by ISA to ensure equitable sharing of benefits from the development of deep sea-bed resources,  says a press release issued by Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the United Nations.  

In her statement, Ambassador Rabab Fatima mentioned that Bangladesh is prioritising on unleashing the full potentials of ocean resources and has made the blue economy the new frontier.

She stressed on the need of the developing countries to receive support for capacity building and knowledge transfer, particularly in the form of training, secondment of technical staff, facilitating research and studies.

The ambassador also spoke about the importance of investment in developing countries to explore the ocean resources for their development. The permanent representative reiterated Bangladesh's commitment to working closely with ISA.

The briefers, which included the ISA Secretary-General Michael W Lodge, highlighted the work being done by the ISA 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.