Blue Economy And Bangladesh

Bangladesh has indeed been maintaining commendably a high growth rate of GDP in the range
of 6-7 per cent annually almost for two decades. It is currently one of the emerging economies of the
world, advancing based mainly on three sectors: readymade garment industry, agriculture and remittances.
But Bangladesh, being a country of having more than 160 million people, can add another sector to the list
if it can exploit the vast potentials of blue economy. After the two verdicts of International Tribunal for the
Law of the Sea (ITLOS) regarding the settlement of maritime dispute initially with Myanmar in march 2012
and then with India in July 2014, Bangladesh obtained its absolute maritime territory of 1,18,813 square
kilometers, 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and an additional area of continental shelf
(sea bed) from the coast. The total area falling under the sovereign rights of Bangladesh makes up 81% of
the mainland of Bangladesh. It is like that we have got another Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal as the
whole area has nearly doubled trough it. The delimitation of sea boundary with Myanmar and India has
indeed opened up a new window of opportunities in terms of harnessing resources and enhancing existing
external trade. The ocean is one of Earth’s valuable natural resources. It provides food in terms fish and
shellfish. It is used as a prime mode of transportation – both shipping and travel. It is mined for minerals
(salt, sand, gravel, copper, cobalt etc. can be found in the deep sea) and drilled for crude oil and gas. These
elements together constitute what we call “Blue Economy”. Now the question arises what type of potentials
actually we have regarding blue economy. Are we prepared enough to exploit this advantage? After fifty
months of achieving our full maritime area what initiatives the government has taken so far to extract these
untapped resources related to blue economy? Let’s try to find out the answers of these queries. Bangladesh,
a unique delta, has been blessed with nice sea outlet but the potentials in the Bay of Bengal have never been
properly exploited. Thus, it remains untapped which have many things to offer. The Bay of Bengal and
coastal areas can be powerhouse of our national economy. A sustainable marine economy extending close
to the coast can bridge shore and off-shore divide. The Bay of Bengal itself is the largest one among 64
bays in the world and 1.4 billion people live along its coastline in Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and
Thailand. At least twenty six maritime activities can be generated here which include fishery, shipping,
maritime trade, energy, seabed tourism etc. Fishery is one of the most important sectors of blue economy.
Fish makes up 15.7 per cent of animal protein consumed globally and the value of fish traded by developing
countries is estimated at USD 25 billion. There are about 475 species of fish found in Bangladesh EEZ
compared to 250 species on land. Marine fish contributes at least 20 per cent of total fish production in the
country and as many as half a million of people are directly dependent on this sector. Whereas about 80
million metric tons fishes are caught every year in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladeshi fishermen can reap only
7 million tons and the bulk of it is taken by the fishermen of India, Myanmar, Thailand and other countries.
This why Bangladesh, at present, is not in the list of top twenty marine fish producers of the world to which
India, Myanmar and Thailand are advancing in the ranking every year. Improved, faster and eco-friendly
fishing trawlers are the demand of the hour to harvest our marine fish resource. Shipping and port facilities
are considered as the backbone of blue economy. Eighty per cent of global trade by volume and over 70
per cent by value are carried by sea and handled by ports. World seaborne trade is growing by 4 per cent
and is projected to triple by 2030. Bangladesh as a coastal state needs to stand out prominently in terms of
port facilities and capacities to keep pace with the growing trade. Considering the average global import
export growth rate of 11 and 10.50 per cent respectively (calculated on last ten years figure), the projected
freight value would be around USD 435 billion. In order to have some portion of share of this amount
Bangladesh must enhance the handling capacity of its ports and develop deep sea port equipped with
modern handling equipments. Around 600 ships anchor in Chittagong and Mongla port per year. Certainly,
the number can be substantially increased and Bangladesh can earn a hefty amount of money as port duties
with the opening out of blue economy. Bangladesh has so far discovered 26 gas fields by which we had
27.12 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) gas. But we have already exhausted well over 14 Tcf. According to
Petrobangla, the remaining reserve of gas in the country is estimated around at 13 Tcf. In the face of ever-
increasing demand of gas in the country this reserve would run within 10 to 12 years. And there is no real
probability of finding more gas fields in the near future. What will happen after that? Under such
circumstances, there is no option left for Bangladesh other than exploring gas blocks in the Bay of Bengal.
A recent survey jointly conducted by Petrobangla and the United States Geological survey (USGS) has
indicated we have a huge amount of gas reserve in the Bangladesh’s maritime area of the Bay of Bengal.
Exploration activities in the offshore today are going on slowly with only 3 blocks being active by
International Oil Company (IOC) under production sharing contract (PSC). There has been no offshore
drilling in the last seven years and success in negotiation is not visible enough. Yet, on the other side of
maritime boundary Myanmar has already stepped up its exploration activities. The most recent gas
discovery, the Thanin gas field, as it is named, took place in January 2016. It is located in the Myanmar
offshore block A-7, very adjacent to one of the offshore blocks of Bangladesh. Peter Colman, chief
executive of the Australian based Woodside Oil Company – which has discovered this gas field – has said
this discovery testifies the high gas potentials around the surrounding blocks. To sum up, we may agree
with the geologist’s belief that a large delta like Bangladesh should form a very rich gas province. In today’s
world there is nothing more significant than a sustainable economy. Blue economy has become a part and
parcel of Bangladesh’s post 2015 development agenda. The goal no. 14 of the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) says, “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans and seas and marine resources for sustainable
development”. The present Bangladesh government is advancing with some per-fixed development visions
of aiming at making Bangladesh a middle income country by 2021 and developed one by 2041. If we want
to achieve SDGs and materialize this vision, there is no alternative other than focusing on blue economy.
We must have to devise a master plan encompassing the potentials of entire coastal belt. We need a
combination of political leaderships, efficient bureaucracy with entrepreneurial spirit to materialize that
plan. If we do this, only then we can cash in on blue economy and transform the country sustainably. The
writer is a Retired Deputy General Manager of BSCIC.