BD seeks Indonesia's support in capacity building in maritime resources extraction

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has sought Indonesia's assistance in capacity building regarding extraction of maritime resources that has remained mostly untapped in Bangladesh despite its enormous potential.

Foreign Minister Momen held a meeting with Indonesian Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono in Jakarta recently.

At the meeting, Minister Trenggono expressed Indonesia's commitment to provide all out support and cooperation to Bangladesh in reaping maximum mutual benefit from blue economy including through joint cooperation in the field of marine science and marine biotechnology.

Both ministers emphasized on sharing technology and technical know-how on marine culture, deep-sea fishing, long-line fishing and seaweed culture etc.

They agreed to initiate exchange programs to share expertise and best practices in cultivating Sea Bass and fishing Tuna.

Indonesia has also offered assistance in combating traditional and non-traditional security challenges in Bangladesh’s territorial water such as unlawful exploitation of marine resources, piracy and polluting the marine environment.

Both ministers recognized that illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) was one of the several factors that has serious consequences, not only on a country’s economy, but also on the marine ecosystems of a region.

During the meeting, Foreign Minister Momen highlighted Bangladesh’s socioeconomic progress across the board including in food security.

The ministers emphasized the importance of collaborative efforts to improve disaster response using modern technology.

Momen also sought Indonesia's assistance in acquiring advanced technological features, including a real-time vessel tracking system via satellite.

Rear Admiral (Retd.) Md. Khurshed Alam secretary of Maritime Affairs Unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Md. Emdadul Islam Chowdhury, director general (United Nations) of MoFA joined the Foreign Minister while Indonesian Ambassador to Bangladesh Heru H. Subolo accompanied Minister Trenggono among other senior officials on both sides.