Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday said that Bangladesh wanted to introduce a scholarship in marine sector for small islands and African least developed countries after the name of Bangladesh鈥檚 founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman through International Maritime Organisation.
鈥榃e want to introduce 10 cadet training scholarship after the name of Bangabandhu through IMO,鈥� she said when its secretary general Arsenio Dominguez paid a courtesy call on her at her official Ganabhaban residence in Dhaka in the morning.
Briefing newsmen after the meeting, PM鈥檚 speech writer M Nazrul Islam said that the IMO secretary general gladly received the proposal.
The scholarship awardees will be trained in Bangladesh Marine Academies.
The IMO secretary general stressed the need for taking measures in increasing women mariners.
The Bangladesh prime minister said that her government first employed women mariners alongside inspiring them to be mariners.
She appreciated IMO for their efforts to free the crews of hijacked Bangladeshi ship MV Abdullah within a month.
Sheikh Hasina called upon the IMO to take appropriate measures in ensuring safety and security of marine ways.
鈥楽ea ways are very important for our economy,鈥� she said.
She also said that the surrounding countries of the Bay of Bengal together were ensuring safety and security of sea ways.
鈥楾ake similar initiatives in other places to ensure safety of the sea ways,鈥� she added.
During the meeting, shipbuilding and its recycling alongside the climate change issues were prominently discussed.
Sheikh Hasina said that her government enhanced the safety measures in ship building and its recycling industries.
鈥榃e have enhanced safety measures in ship building and recycling industries and it is remarkable,鈥� she said.
The prime minister said that Bangladesh was exporting ships to European countries as both the public and private sectors engaged in shipbuilding.
The IMO secretary general said that all had to follow the criteria set in the Hong Kong Convention.
Mentioning that Bangladesh signed the Hong Kong Convention last June, he said that the criteria set in the convention would have to be followed, otherwise, Europe would not sell their old ships to any country.
The Bangladesh prime minister sought help from the IMO to enhance its efforts in ship building and recycling to protect the environment following the Hong Kong Convention.
About climate change, she said that Bangladesh had to face floods, cyclones and drought due to the adverse impact of climate change.
Referring to the recent cyclone Remal, Sheikh Hasina said that Bangladesh suffered huge losses of properties due to long-lasting of the storm and tidal surge.
The prime minister said that Bangladesh was trying to offset the climate change impact by forming a climate trust fund with its own finances.
PM鈥檚 ambassador-at-large M Ziauddin and principal secretary M Tofazzel Hossain Miah, among others, were present.
