DHAKA: Asia-Pacific countries leaders praised Bangladesh and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for promoting the concept of Blue Economy regionally and globally in the post-2015 development debate.
They came up with this assertion in a High-level Panel Discussion on, “Blue Economy for Sustainable Use of Marine Resources and Inclusive Growth” in Bangkok.
The program was organized by Bangladesh during the just-concluded 71st Annual Session of UN Economic and Social Commission for the Asia and Pacific (UNESCAP), said a press release on Sunday.
Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque made a thematic presentation at the event on Bangladesh’s foreign policy focus to promote inter-regional partnerships amongst the South Asian, ASEAN and Pacific Island countries to share knowledge, technology and best policy practices in seas-and-oceans-based sustainable development projects for generating livelihoods and inclusive growth in the post-2015 era.
Senior Secretary of Economic Relations Division Mohammad Mejbahuddin in his welcome remarks invited South-South Cooperation in marine resource exploration in the Asia-Pacific region under the aegis of the ESCAP.
The two leading international agencies working in the area of environmental conservation of natural and marine resources IUCN and UNEP, assured their full support in advancing Bangladesh's Blue Economy aspirations for the Bay of Bengal.
The Bangladesh initiative was highly praised by all participants including ESCAP Executive Secretary and UN Under-Secretary General Dr Shamshad Akhtar who pledged to include the issue of Blue Economy in ESCAP’s agenda.
Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Smt Nirmala Sitaraman also praised the Bangladesh side event on Blue Economy and stated that, " Given the closeness of India-Bangladesh relationship, the bonds of history and culture that unite us, and the importance that we attach to building a strong and enduring bilateral relationship.”
The Indian minister also informed the audiences that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Bangladesh in the first week of June 2015.
The panel was also deliberated, among others, by the Prime Minister of Cook Islands, Minister of Commerce and Industry of India, Minister of Environment and Agriculture of Kiribati, Minister of Agriculture and Maritime Development and National Disaster Management of Fiji, the Executive Secretary of UNESCAP, Philippines Under Secretary for National Economic Development, Asia Regional Director of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Asia Regional Director of UNEP, and leader of delegations and Ambassadors of Bhutan, Indonesia and the Russian Federation.
Organized at the initiative of Bangladesh Ambassador and Permanent Representative at the UNESCAP Saida Muna Tasneem, this was Bangladesh's first ever high-level side event at UN's Asia Pacific Commission.
Later, Bangladesh’s leader of the delegation State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan was elected the Vice-Chair of 71st Commission’s Ministerial session and chaired the session’s closing Plenary.
BDST: 1942 HRS, MAY 31, 2015
BD/RS/SMS
