The future of the Blue Economy in Bangladesh

Since 2014, the Government of Bangladesh has initiated discussions with stakeholders in order to adopt the concept of a ‘blue economy’ across relevant policies and strategies. By definition, the blue economy fosters the idea of sustainably deriving economic value from the untapped potential of marine resources using sustainable solutions and innovations for increasing food security, improving nutrition and health, alleviating poverty, creating jobs, increasing trade and industrial profiles while protecting ecosystem health and biodiversity, and maintaining regional peace and security. This policy paper focuses on Bangladesh’s transition to a blue economy through the analysis of existing and potential sectorial opportunities and constraints. It also provides a way forward in terms of actions to be carried out for the sustainable development of ocean economy sectors. It has been elaborated on the outcome of the Joint Collaboration on Blue Economy between the Government of Bangladesh and its development partners such as the European Union, the World Bank and the UK Research institutions such as the University of Portsmouth.