Our Oceans and the Blue Economy: Opportunities and Challenges

The Blue Economy is regarded as the decoupling of socio-economic activities and development from environmental degradation and optimizing the benefits which may be derived from marine resources. The attitude of achieving long-term prosperity by a country or a region befitting the wellbeing of all citizens and the mankind preserving the environment, especially the sea is the basis of the Blue Economy. Blue Economy means the use of sea and the use of its resources for sustainable economic development and the concept is new in Bangladesh and South Asia. This paper is a compilation of researches already carried out in the region by extracting the data and works which are available somehow related to the topic and relevant to thoughts and activities in this region. The paper cites a few highlights on how the Blue Economy Concept fits into the sustainability development framework while balancing its economic, social and environmental benefits and how does it contribute in GDP. The paper aims at generating thoughts and actions towards investigating various opportunities of the Blue Economy, ways of cashing the benefits as well as identifying challenges and ways of overcoming them. The paper concludes that Bangladesh as well the South Asia have potentials to follow the Blue Economy Concept. However it requires strong political willingness and commitments, which already have been demonstrated in Bangladesh. It needs rigorous researches and promoting social awareness.