The government is determined to keep the marine boundaries of Bangladesh protected, said Hasina as she spoke during the inauguration of the 14th Heads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies Meeting or HACGAM. Director General of Bangladesh Coast Guard Rear Admiral AMMM Aurangzeb Chowdhury and heads of the maritime agencies of South Asian countries took part in the meeting at Hotel Radisson in Dhaka on Wednesday. It is important to have the safe plying of marine vessels for international trade and communication, said the prime minister. Bangladesh has almost 90 percent of its total foreign trade done through maritime routes, she added. It is unfortunate but true that drug trafficking, illegal arms trafficking, human trafficking, uncontrolled fishing, piracy, armed robbery and other crimes take place in our part of the maritime area. Criminals from neighbouring countries also remain involved in these crimes, said Hasina. The criminals use modern technology and equipment. It is beyond the capacity of a country to curb such crimes singlehanded. It can be curtailed only if we work together. A platform like HACGAM can ensure a safe maritime border preventing the crimes through cooperation using the experience and information-data of its members, Hasina said. Bangladesh Coast Guard has earned the confidence of the people in Bangladesh despite being a relatively new force, said the prime minister. We expect the Bangladesh Coast Guard will keep our ocean routes safe by cooperating with other maritime agencies in Asia. We’ll take any necessary initiative for it, she said. At least 70 percent of the global population live within 100km of ocean coasts which projects the close tie of the human and the sea, said the prime minister. We are lucky that Bangladesh as a delta nation is connected to the Indian Ocean through the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh has a 715km coastline. We have at least 12 coastal districts in three divisions where the people’s livelihood is related to the sea. This is why it important to ensure the safety in maritime routes. As a coastal country, Bangladesh has its interest related to the Bay of Bengal. It has failed to tap the underwater resources in the Bay of Bengal over the last four decades as there has been no maritime boundaries fixed with other partner countries — India and Myanmar. Our fishermen were prevented from fishing and on the other hand our fisheries were tapped freely by fishermen of other nationalities. Even we could not assert our right to mineral resources, she said. Bangladesh has settled the dispute over maritime boundaries with India and Myanmar in 2012 and 2014 at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, ensuring Bangladesh its right to the Bay of Bengal. We have managed to do this as we maintained our friendship with our two neighbours. There are huge mineral resources under the water and our next generations will benefit if we can tap them, said Hasina. The Coast Guard members always engage themselves in the hard task of ensuring safety in the sea. I believe the member countries will be able to adopt new strategies to ensure safety of their maritime boundaries through this meeting.