PM seeks international support for Bangladesh Delta Plan

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday urged the country’s development partners to help implement the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 that seeks sustainable development for future generations.

“The cooperation or participation of all at home and abroad– our friendly countries or development partners—is absolutely necessary in every field of knowledge, technology and exchange of experiences, starting from financing,” she said while opening an international conference on the Delta Plan 2100 through a videoconference from Ganobhaban, reports UNB.

The premier said the 100-year Delta Plan, approved by her government in 2018, is a techno-economic master plan based on information technology and knowledge. “It’s phased implementation will require about 2.5 percent of GDP by 2025,” she added.

The two-day event titled “Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 International Conference: Issues and Challenge of Implementation” started in the morning at a city hotel with participation of policy makers, researchers, teachers, development activists and development partners from home and abroad.

Hasina said her government has adopted the Delta Plan not for today, rather for making Bangladesh sustainable for the future generations of the next century.

“Since Bangladesh is a Delta, we’ll have to build the country in such a way so that its future generations can lead a decent life,” she said.

The PM said her government has been taking various steps to improve the life of future generations.

Due to geographical location, Bangladesh is regularly facing natural disasters including floods, droughts, tidal surges, cyclones, river erosion, salinity and landslides, she said.

Bangladesh is one of the worst victims of the brunt of climate change, but the country, in no way, is responsible for it, said Hasina.

“Bangladesh is to face the blow of climate change,” she said, adding that her government has taken various steps –short-term, medium-term and long-term -- keeping it in mind.

The PM said her government is moving ahead with far-reaching plans to make Bangladesh more secure and sustainable, to achieve the economic prosperity of the country.

“We’ve been implementing various plans to protect our people from the fallout of climate changes and fulfill their basic rights including rights to food, shelter, education, healthcare and employment,” she said.

She said Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman enacted the Territorial Waters and Maritime Zones Act in 1974, but the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was adopted in 1982.

Following his assassination in 1975, the subsequent governments had taken no initiative in the next 21 years to establish the rights of Bangladesh over sea, said Hasina, also the eldest daughter of Bangabandhu.

When Awami League formed the government again in 1996, it signed a 30-year Ganges water sharing treaty with India in 1997 and achieved food autarky in 1998, she said.

Her government also started working on the settlement of maritime disputes with neighboring countries - India and Myanmar in order to establish Bangladesh’s right to maritime resources and ratified the UNCLOS (UN Commission to the Limits of Continental Shelf) Convention in 2001.

Assuming power again in 2009, her government settled the maritime boundary disputes with Myanmar and India keeping the friendly relations with the two neighbouring countries. Thus Bangladesh achieved a vast sea area, she added.