Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim
has said that the government is willing to set up a separate economic zone
for the fisheries sector for furthering the growth of the industry.
The Minister said this while speaking as the chief guest of a workshop on
“Fisheries Subsidies in the Context of LDC Graduation and Way Forward” held
at the NEC Conference Room in the capital’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area today.
Support to Sustainable Graduation Project (SSGP) of the Economic Relations
Division (ERD) organised the event, said a press release here.
Responding to a proposal coming from the relevant stakeholders for setting up
an economic zone for fisheries processing, Rezaul ensured that the government
would provide all kinds of necessary support including land acquisition in
setting up the zone.
He also said that the success of such economic zones depends on spontaneous
investment from the private entrepreneurs.
The Minister also informed that the government had initiated a project to
encourage deep-sea fishing. He also informed that the government is taking
strict measures to discourage overfishing.
Secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock Dr. Nahid Rashid,
President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) Barrister Md.
Sameer Sattar and President of Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters Association
Kazi Belayet Hossain were present as special guests at the workshop with ERD
Secretary Sharifa Khan in the chair.
It is notable that during the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC-12) of the
World Trade Organization (WTO) held in June 2022, the WTO members adopted the
Agreement of Fisheries Subsidies.
The disciplines adopted in the agreement is expected to have important and
positive impacts on the sustainability of marine fish stocks and fisheries
through curbing subsidies to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing;
prohibiting subsidies to fishing on overfished stocks, and prohibiting
subsidies to fishing on unregulated high seas.
Though Bangladesh does not provide substantial subsidies to marine fisheries,
the facility of providing partial subsidies to this sector might be limited
once Bangladesh becomes a non-LDC developing country.
In this context, the workshop was organised to identify the next course of
actions for continuing fisheries subsidies in the aftermath of Bangladesh’s
LDC graduation against the backdrop of the aforementioned WTO Agreement of
Fisheries Subsidies.
Secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock Dr. Nahid Rashid, in her
speech, observed that there are huge untapped opportunities in the blue
economy sector of the country. She also called for increased public and
private investment for tapping such opportunities.
ERD Secretary Sharifa Khan recommended the formulation of a roadmap to tap
the opportunities existing in the blue economy sector.
President of DCCI Barrister Md. Sameer Sattar said that a comprehensive study
needs to be carried out on the impact of withdrawing fishery subsidies in
Bangladesh.
He suggested that this issue can be raised at the next Ministerial Conference
of the WTO based on findings of the study.
President of Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters Association Kazi Belayet
Hossain called for duty waiver on the import of fisheries instruments. He
also called for further value addition and skill enhancement in this sector
while emphasizing the need for providing bonded warehouse facilities for this
sector.
Welcoming the participants to the seminar, additional secretary of ERD and
Project Director of SSGP Farid Aziz informed that the government has taken
various measures to ensure a smooth and sustainable transition from the LDC
status.
Member of Bangladesh Competition Commission Md. Hafizur Rahman delivered the
keynote presentation at the event. Rahman highlighted the key features of the
WTO Agreement of Fisheries Subsidies.
He called for gradual elimination of cash incentives by 2026. Rahman also
recommended developing a reporting system of catch in a systematic way in his
presentation. He also recommended exploring options for using innovative non-
actionable subsidies to fisheries sector.
Director General (DG) of the Department of Fisheries Kh Mahbubul Haque,
Chairman of Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation Sayeed Mahmood Belal
Haider and Director of Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute Dr. Md.
Zulfikar Ali spoke at the event as panelists.
Noting that Bangladesh is yet to fully explore the potentials of marine
fishery resources, speakers at the workshop called for enhancing the domestic
capacity in this regard.
Senior officials from government ministries, agencies and research
institutions, representatives from relevant trade associations and think
tanks attended the workshop.
Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha