Hon’ble Chief Guest, Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh

Hon’ble Chair, Indian Ocean Rim Association

Hon’ble Secretary General, Indian Ocean Rim Association

Hon’ble Secretary General, International Seabed Authority

Hon’ble Ministers and Heads of Delegations from Member States, Dialogue Partners,

Hon’ble Ministers, Member of Parliaments and Other Dignitaries from Government of Bangladesh

Excellencies,

Distinguished Delegates,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Shuvo Shokal; a very good morning to you all.

I am delighted to welcome all to this landmark “Blue Economy Ministerial Conference”, which is very timely in the context of our efforts to promote Sustainable Blue Economy and design Vision Delta 2100. Similar to climate change, ocean health also needs proper regional and international attention and frameworks supported by all stakeholders.

Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) is such a platform where we can collectively pursue sustainable development in the region keeping our oceans ‘healthy’. We, the member states and dialogue partners, should consider sustainable Blue Economy strategy as driver for our development, enrichment of life and living and growth.

Distinguished Guests,

The concept of Blue Economy is relatively newcomer to the world to be regarded as economic frontier, source of industrialization and key to our fortune. However, since the dawn of the civilization, oceans played fundamental role to the development of human civilization. Oceans, in one hand, are still the vehicle for 80% of global trade and on the other hand, accounts for sequestration of 30% of carbon dioxide emission created in the process of expanding this global trade and industries. With the advancement of state-of-the-art technologies, oceans are opening new frontiers of marine resource development, from traditional fishing and tourism to emerging seabed mining and bio-prospecting. Oceans and seas offer hundreds of millions of jobs, in fisheries, aquaculture, shipping, tourism, energy production and the like. As per estimate, fishing and aquaculture, shipping, tourism, and other ocean activities collectively generates 2.5 trillion US Dollar each year. The core challenges to exploit ocean resources and services for sustainable development lie in the inherent structure of our economies. The size of our individual economies limit our capability to fully exploit the economies of scale and sophisticated technologies. But, together in collaboration and partnership, we can overcome this shortcoming. Together we can pave our way towards sustainable and remarkable ‘Blue Growth’.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are piling up of 8 million tons of plastic in the oceans every year. The way we are going, there might be more plastic in the oceans than fish by 2050. The micro-plastics and fishing gears are leading towards contamination of seawater, intoxicating the seafood and jeopardizing the natural ambience of marine ecosystems. Ingesting these micro-plastics is increasing the chance of disease, affecting reproduction system and threatening the lives of millions of marine animals. End of the day, these intoxicated marine animals, specially fishes and seafood, may end up at our dining tables and plates.

Excellencies,

To save us from the mess we created we should opt for collective action and look through the same prism for tapping the opportunities and facing the challenges of blue economy. Therefore, engagements among countries and stakeholders on Blue Economy should be based on the principles inter alia of mutual trust and respect, equitable mutual benefit, and sharing of benefits to secure sustained and beneficial outcomes of all ocean-centric enterprise. Sustainable and maximum utilization of Blue Economy needs sound policy framework, both public and private initiatives for policy implementation, increased research and development activities, as well as realizing importance of environmental sustainability.

Blue Economy has become a critical part for climate change mitigation, adaptation and disaster resilience. In many parts of the world, shallow coastal water ecosystems, such as mangroves, tidal marshes and sea grass beds have been playing critical role as natural carbon sinks since they fix the carbon at a much higher rate per unit area than land based systems and can be more effective at the long term sequestration of carbon than terrestrial forest systems. Our coastal habitats such as coral reefs, mangroves and coastal marshes provide significant protection from catastrophic events such as cyclones and hurricanes.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

For development of sustainable Blue Economy, nearly 41 years ago our father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had a vision prior to UNCLOS 1982 effective implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is the key. This Convention sets out the legal framework which is very pivotal for carrying out all activities in the oceans and seas including conservation and sustainable use of the oceans and their resources. IORA’s all action and commitments should align with this framework which will eventually lead us to achieve Sustainable Development Goals and National Determined Contribution commitments. Two-thirds of global waters lie beyond national jurisdiction. This Area Beyond National Jurisdiction requires extra attention and thus need proper skills and knowledge. For developing countries like us, such skills and knowledge level is achievable only by innovation and research by collective and collaborative efforts. Our Universities, Research Institutions and other relevant think-tank organizations can work together in this aspect. Our success in sustainably managing ocean resources for boosting economic growth in this region, therefore, critically hinges on us working together and our partnership.  

Dear Delegates,

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, 85% of global fish stocks are “overexploited, depleted, or recovering from depletion”. To promote sustainable and responsible fisheries management and development, IORA should adopt joint capacity building projects and information sharing on aquaculture to address food security and IUU fishing in the Indian Ocean region. IORA should also assume the central role to combat the scourge of maritime piracy, armed robbery, human trafficking by sea, illegal arms trafficking etc. It is only possible through a common understanding of maritime governance and its pragmatic application with orchestrated efforts.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen

This Blue economy Conference offers a unique opportunity to discuss practical ways to implement our shared aspirations and ensure a living healthy ocean for future generations. This is also an opportunity to forge greater cooperation in areas of marine fisheries, shipping, sea-bed exploration and renewable energy towards achieving a sustainable Blue Economy in the region. We have to keep in mind that we all have a stake in building a sustainable Blue Economy. Our actions will determine our future. To that end Bangladesh is always committed to align its development strides with IORA’s Concord and Plan of Action. I urge the IORA member states and dialogue partners to formulate and implement projects for economic co-operation relating to trade facilitation and liberalization, promotion of foreign investment, scientific and technological exchanges, marine tourism and adopt the Dhaka Declaration in order to provide maximum opportunities to develop shared interests, wider networks and reap mutually beneficial results.

I thank you for your participation and wish you all a constructive and productive day.