Bangladesh is poised to formulate a maritime policy to emphasizing the geo-strategic, geo-political importance of the Bay of Bengal, an official source said Saturday.
The issues are expected from a two-day long international workshop on "Blue Economy" for sustainable development of the ocean resources , which will be held tomorrow (Monday) at Hotel Sonargaon.
Apart from Bangladesh, 32 delegates from 20 countries including Germany, India, Netherlands, Seychelles, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, South Africa, United States, Republic of Korea, Kenya, Iran, Australia, Sweden, China will take part in the workshop.
The workshop will focuson strategies to increase economic development from the vast resources in the Bay to ensure sustainable growth of per capita income. Bangladesh for centuries exploited resources from the land and rivers, but will have an opportunity to understand the ocean as a repository of natural resources, the official said.
The government plans to develop a mega plan for exploitation of resources of the Bay following winning the maritime boundary cases with neighbouring Myanmar and India.
On March 14, 2012 and July 8 this year Bangladesh won two landmark judgements in cases with Myanmar and India respectively. Bangladesh has gained 19,467 square kilometres of 25,602 sq.km of Bay of Bengal.
The maritime economic activities would positively impact on the entire portfolio of fishing, shipping, ship-building, tourism, renewable energy, marine minerals, maritime monitoring economic and surveillance, official said.
Earlier a strategic workshop to develop a draft mega plan was held on August 20 at Prime Minister's Office conference hall and was presided by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The participation of 19 ministries, directorates and agencies includes Foreign, Home, Defence, Law and Justice, Water Resources, Industries, Civil Aviation & Tourism, Agriculture, Fisheries, Environment and Forest, Armed Forces Division, Energy and Mineral Resources Division, Petro Bangla, Atomic Energy Commission, Directorate of Geological Survey and Meteorological Department.
The strategic meeting recommended seeking knowledge and expertise of the national and expatriate consultants and experts. The government will also involve experts on ocean, coastal and marine resources to understand the whole gamut of the sustainable exploitation of the Bay.