Japan will provide US$15 million as grant for revamping fish landing centres in Cox’s Bazar in a bid to develop Bangladesh’s blue economy.

The donation would be available for the project titled “The Project for the Improvement of Fish Landing Center of Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation in Cox’s Bazar District.”

Ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh IWAMA Kiminori and Secretary of Economic Relations Division Md Shahriar Kader Siddiky signed an exchange of notes in this regard.

Based on the agreement, ICHIGUCHI Tomohide, chief representative of JICA Bangladesh and Shahriar Kader signed a relevant agreement.

Through the concerned project, facilities and equipment that have suffered from riverbank erosion will also be improved.

It is worth noting that fish landing centres provide a location for first point of sale for fish products and a place where fishers can leave their boats and obtain supplies such as food, fuel and ice. The landing centre is also the first distribution point in the fisheries industry supply chain as vehicles from different parts of a country come to collect their wholesale products from here.

 “I’m sure that this project will not only contribute to Bangladesh’s blue economy, which aims to achieve sustainable economic growth by utilising marine resources, but also support the economy of host communities who are suffering from difficulties caused by the influx of Rohingya refugees,” said Ambassador IWAMA after signing documents of donation on Thursday.