Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus today said that a new city will emerge in Maheshkhali-Matarbari coastlines, the scene of the ongoing deep seaport, as part of Bangladesh’s vision for a blue economy.

“Not just a deep sea port, we have to work with the vision of building a blue economy. This area will not only be a facilitating zone, but a new city will emerge there,” he told a meeting with members of the newly formed Maheshkhali Integrated Development Authority (MIDA) at his official Jamuna residence.

The interim government chief said the scene was expected to create “our international connectivity” and the “sea will be our highway to the world”.

Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Chairman Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun, who heads the MIDA as well, and members of the newly constituted entity Commodore Tanzim Faruq and M Sarwar Alam joined the meeting.

Professor Yunus directed the MIDA to establish an international standard training facility for research on the deep sea and alongside a state of art training facility in the Maheshkhali region and seek global expertise if required in this regard.

“We have never explored the ocean world. We have not even thought about it. There is no research finding in this regard. We need to find out what research is available on the matter,” he said.

The Chief Adviser also suggested MIDA to collect research papers from other countries which share the scenario identical to Bangladesh alongside “doing our own research”.

He said institutions or academia should be built on ocean research and stressed on organizing international conferences on ocean economy.

Professor Yunus simultaneously stressed environmental protection while the meeting discussed prospects of developing an eco-tourism park in the region particularly stressing an afforestation campaign saying it should be carried out taking into account the existing natural type of forest there.

“We have to formulate plans on what kind of forest we want to see in the future,” the he said.

At the meeting’s onset the MIDA chairman gave a presentation on the Maheshkhali-Matarbari project and outlined the authority’s four-month action plan saying the mega project would be implemented in three phases - 2025 to 2030, 2030 to 2045, and 2045 to 2055.

Chowdhury said project on its completion was expected to generate 25 lakh peoples employment and contribute US$ 150 billion to the GDP.

Chief Adviser’s Principal Coordinator on SDG Lamiya Morshed and Chief Adviser’s Office (CAO) Secretary M Saifullah Panna were also present at the meeting.