China and India have extended their hands to Bangladesh to use its marine resources in a sustainable manner.
Both the countries have expressed their desire to help Bangladesh in blue economy by sharing knowledge, providing other assistance.
The government had meetings with the officials of the two neighbouring countries to find out possible areas of cooperation in the field of blue economy.
Cooperation with India
Bangladesh and India signed a memorandum of understanding on blue economy during the visit of Indian Premier Narendra Modi in Dhaka.
An official of the Foreign Ministry said senior officials of both the countries had their first meeting on blue economy to discuss possible cooperation under the MoU for further strengthening the bilateral relationship.
Capacity building and training, sharing of information and joint research in several areas including marine biotechnology, green tourism and hospitality are the possible cooperation areas where both the governments are interested in.
They also discussed about marine aquaculture, deep sea fishing, maritime pollution response, ocean disasters and services for mutual benefit, the official said.
Both sides agreed to meet at regular intervals to monitor the progress of cooperation activities being undertaken under the MoU, he added.
China interested to help
China has expressed its desire to help Bangladesh in the field of blue economy in a bigger way.
A Foreign Ministry official said Beijing put forward cooperation proposal when Chinese policymakers met State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam and Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque in separate meetings recently.
The possible future cooperation can be done under a MoU or a joint working group can be formed, the official said.
The government is considering all options, he added.
The official said State Oceanic Administration of China has already signed a memorandum of understanding with Oceanography Department of the Dhaka University and offer several scholarships including in PhD programme and will also provide equipment to the department.
The government has undertaken a plan to tap marine resources in a sustainable manner but it lacks knowledge, training and skills.
Bangladesh resolved maritime boundary dispute with Myanmar in 2012 and with India in 2014 and got the sovereign authority of 0.12 million square kilometer of area in the Bay of Bengal.
Abut 30 million people in Bangladesh directly or indirectly dependent on marine resources.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
It is to be appreciated that the government has undertaken a plan to tap marine resources in a sustainable manner but it lacks knowledge, training and skills.The official said State Oceanic Administration of China has already signed a memorandum of understanding with Oceanography Department of the Dhaka University and offer several scholarships including in PhD programme and will also provide equipment to the department. This is an excellent offer and we should fully utilize this time befitting offer. In fact, we need more.To tap marine resources in a sustainable manner, i think is not enough, we should have environment friendly management plan for our Bay of Bengal. This will help build up multiplication of marine resources and to manage on the principle of sustainable yield. Here carbon sink management should be considered.