Bangladesh seeks ISA support realizing blue economy’s potential

Bangladesh has sought cooperation from International Seabed Authority (ISA) to turn blue economy as new tool of its socio-economic development through unleashing huge potential of ocean resources. “To fully realize the potentials of the Blue Economy for our socio-economic development, we would require access to equitable sharing of marine resources, especially in areas beyond national jurisdiction,” Bangladesh Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Rabab Fatima said.

Fatima was speaking at the “Ambassadorial Briefing on Equitable sharing of benefits from sustainable development of seabed resources: Opportunities for LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS” held in New York on Thursday, according to a message received in Dhaka on Saturday.

The ambassador said Bangladesh is prioritizing on unleashing the full potentials of ocean resources and has made the Blue Economy the new frontier.

She stressed the need of the developing countries to receive support for capacity building and knowledge transfer, particularly in the form of training, secondment of technical staff, facilitating research and studies.

She also put importance on investment in developing countries to explore the ocean resources for their development.

The permanent representative reiterated Bangladesh’s commitment to working closely with ISA.

Organized jointly by the International Seabed Authority (ISA), and the chairs of LDCs, LLDCs and AOSIS, the purpose of the high-level event was to brief member states about the initiatives taken by ISA to ensure equitable sharing of benefits from the development of deep sea-bed resources.

ISA Secretary-General Michael W. Lodge briefed the ambassadors of different countries about various work done by the ISA that includes regulatory framework for deep sea mining, exploration of mineral resources and building capacity to address needs of LDCs, LLDCs and SIDs.

Source: BSS