Ocean Economy: A splendid opportunity for Bangladesh to explore

Sadia Karim

Economic Policy and Jobs Network

What do we mean by Ocean Economy?

The ocean economy also known as the blue economy, involves a sustainable economy for the ocean-based marine environment. By creating a sustainable economy, it ensures the conservation and use of the natural resources in the seabed, species and genetic resources, such as marine living organisms along with related biodiversity and ecosystem.

Reasons to explore the blue economy of Bangladesh

Ocean economy is one of the precedence sectors for the government because it contributes more than $6.0 billion annually to the Bangladesh economy and has the ability to generate much more. Ocean economy provides opportunities to the Bangladesh economy in fishery, minerals resources, shipping and energy.

To explore the prospects of the ocean economy, the government has taken a $240 million project by taking aid from the World Bank for sustainable development of the coastal and marine fisheries. The global lender, World Bank has also shown its interest in helping the government. Therefore, it has already begun to work to assist a survey in the sea and the offshore areas under technical assistance. The World Bank consultants are also expected to exploit the potentials of the country’s untapped blue economy. For example, in areas like fisheries, tourism, oil and other mineral resources, so that they can provide a detailed proposal based on the survey where the ways to extract the potentiality of the resources in the Bay of Bengal and contribution to the macro-economy will be discoursed. Thus, to advance the strategy, the World Bank is providing funds worth Tk 99 million for research on offshore turfs for spotting the potential of the blue economy in the Bay of Bengal.

Utilizing the ‘Ocean Economy’ opportunities
If Bangladesh can emerge from a blue economy, then it will create tremendous macro-economic benefits for the country. The macro-economic benefits will include employment opportunities, other income generating activities, and the development of other social services along with improving the overall standard of life for the local people in coastal areas.

However, we still lag behind proper policy, technology, and capacities to tap the evolving chances in the ocean economy regime. Thus, as an incentive to work upon the development, Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed her determination of turning the Bay of Bengal into a hub for sustainable economic development and utilizing the marine resources sustainability. Assistance from the World Bank is also an inducement for the policy makers to construct an efficient and beneficial strategy for the growth of the blue economy in our country.

Hence, the new emerging blue economy will provide our country with enormous economic activities, facilitating foreign investment in our economy. If the policy is reformed and the technology is upgraded, we can perhaps enjoy the macro-economic benefits at a greater extent with a different pool of opportunities being provided.