Ocean resources sit untapped  

The vast Bay of Bengal has unlimited resources both on the surface and in its depth that wait to be acquired and turned into money. Resources worth billions of dollars, if utilized through careful planning, can definitely elevate our economy to the next level. We see that the government has ultimately focused its attention on this sector of immense possibility and taking up effective plans to tap the resources. The project ‘blue economy’ is now becoming an important agenda of work for the planners.         

Taking into consideration its potential, the government is planning to form a special cell to explore opportunities of Bangladesh’s blue economy that can serve as a growth catalyst in the economic development. 

It needs to be said that the blue economy is a new potential sector for investment in Bangladesh as it has the capability to yield huge economic benefits and sustainable growth. Experts say that various industries including tourism, shipbuilding, deep-sea fishing, ferrying containers, medicine and cosmetics industry can extract benefits by utilising marine resources.

Bangladesh harvests fish in only 60-kilometre area of the Bay out of the total area of 664 km. As a result, Bangladesh's share in global fish production is limited to only 2.6 per cent. On the other hand, China’s share in this respect is 61 per cent. At the same time experts point out that we are yet to tap the huge reserve of minerals, offshore oil and gas for lack of planning and initiative. The attempts made in the past have not materialised because of unknown reasons. Reportedly, many other countries having access to the same sea have already started extracting mineral resources from their own blocks.

Records show that the ocean economic zone of Bangladesh is equal to 81 per cent of the mainland. The business of ferrying containers through the ocean routes is worth 9 billion dollars and the business is growing at a rate of 15 per cent every year, but with only 70 ocean-going vessels Bangladesh is far behind other major operators. As businesses will grow worldwide, so will the demand for container vessels. Keeping this scenario in mind, Bangladesh will need to make itself ready to grab a bigger piece of the cake. In other words, the country will need to acquire more ocean-going vessels for this purpose.    

Bangladesh can also earn substantial revenue from deep sea ports allowing foreign mother vessels to come and go with cargo. But our only deep-sea port at Matarbari is yet to be completed.  

One of the resource components of the blue economy is gas in the depth of the Bay. Research findings say that there is a reserve of around 40 trillion cubic feet of gas under the jurisdiction of Bangladesh. The huge offshore oil reserve also remains unexplored. Through adopting proper technology, Bangladesh can produce energy using the current of sea water and also wind of the sea from 200 nautical miles.

What experts identified as the main obstacle to the full utilisation of the potential is the lack of any clear-cut ownership of this vital sector. As a result, different ministries have been working separately since the beginning. Suggestions for BIDA [Bangladesh Investment Development Authority] to take over the sector have also come from some concerned quarters.

It is envisaged that the maritime economy would play an effective role in drawing the attention of foreign investment and creating employment in the post-LDC era. The government therefore should take proper initiatives to modernise marine fishing. In this regard, deep-sea fishing trawlers and other vessels can be built under the joint venture of local and foreign investors through amending the existing policy of the ministry of fisheries and livestock.

 There is consensus among economists that the growth of the world economy in the next 10 to 20 years will be centered on the blue economy. And Bangladesh should be ready to export worth billions of dollars from the blue economy sector in the next few years.

It is agreed by the experts that maritime economy can help tackle post-LDC era challenges and propel the country to the right trajectory of development. What is needed is a time-befitting plan and embracing proper technology to gain the most out of the sector.