Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said that there is nothing to be worried about the country’s economy as it has been doing well despite the global economic recession.
“Everybody gets concerned if there are some slight moves in the economy… there is nothing to be concerned about the country’s economy,” she said at a reception held at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city.
The prime minister said the present government is moving very well in revenue collection and the progress of implementation of Annual Development Programme (ADP) is higher than any time.
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) accorded the reception to the prime minister for gaining the historic maritime boundary verdict against Myanmar.
Foreign Minister Dipu Moni spoke at the reception as special guest while FBCCI president AK Azad gave the address of welcome and FBCCI first vice president M Jasim Uddin offered the vote of thanks.
Former FBCCI president Salman F Rahman, editor of daily Independent Mahbubul Alam, renowned educationist Prof Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, and former adviser of caretaker government Syed Manzur Elahi also spoke on the occasion.
Additional Secretary at the Foreign Ministry Rear Admiral (retd) Khurshid Alam, who played a key role in the legal battle against Myanmar, made a power point presentation on the Bangladesh’s move towards gaining maritime boundary verdict.
Despite the global economic meltdown, the economic indicators of the country are in good position, Hasina said.
The area of social safety net programmes has been doubled while the poverty rate has dropped to 31 percent from 40 percent, she added.
She said the present government has ensured special facilities for attracting investment in the country and also created scope for more employment generation.
The prime minister also sought the cooperation of all including the business community in running the affairs of the state.
Terming the victory of establishing Bangladesh’s maritime right as a victory of the country’s people, she said this victory is a milestone towards further economic development.
This will act as a unique motivation for turning Bangladesh into a middle income country by 2021 and also opened up the door for immense potentialities for the present and future generations, Hasina said.
She said father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at first took the initiative in 1974 to establish Bangladesh’s rights over the Bay of Bengal as he had enacted the Territorial Waters and Maritime Zone Act, the first of its kind in South Asia.
Soon after enacting the law, Bangabandhu initiated talks with India and Myanmar for demarcation of maritime boundary and there was much progress, she said.
At that time, Myanmar had agreed to demarcate Bangladesh’s maritime boundary stretching up to 12 nautical miles in the St Martins area, she added.
But, with the assassination of father of the nation with most of his family members, the process came to a stalemate, Hasina said.
The premier mentioned that after assuming power in 1996, the Awami League government took another initiative to establish Bangladesh’s rights in the Bay and approved the ratification of the relevant convention on July 9, 2001.
After a couple of hearings at the ITLOS from September 8 to 24 last year in Hamburg, Bangladesh gained its historic maritime boundary verdict against Myanmar on March 14 resulting in some 111,000 square kilometers of area in the Bay of Bengal under Bangladesh’s control.
Hasina hoped that after the maritime boundary verdict against Myanmar, Bangladesh would also gain success in its maritime boundary case against India in 2014. “Insha-Allah, we’ll also bring success from there,” she said.
She informed that a Marine Research Institute would be built in the country.
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