The Blue Economy is a catch-all term that is used to describe a wide variety of development approaches and priorities in the ocean and coastal areas, and it seeks to promote economic growth, social inclusion, and improvement of livelihoods while at the same time ensuring environmental sustainability. To harness the full potential of the Blue Economy to achieve the SDGs, the Bangladesh government needs policy support and policy development ideas and suggestions from the relevant stakeholders of the country. Thus, a roundtable policy dialogue titled ‘Institutionalization of the Blue Economy in Bangladesh’ was held at the initiative of the General Economics Division, Bangladesh Planning Commission of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh where senior officials from different ministries of the government, armed forces, ports authority and research institutions related to the Blue Economy, eminent professors and researchers of different universities, and individuals working in various private and international organizations participated.

The report has been prepared by the General Economics Division (GED) of the Bangladesh Planning Commission with support from the Social Security Policy Support (SSPS) Programme and Support to the Implementation of the Bangladesh Delta Plan – SIBDP) and was supported by the Australian Government and United National Development Programme (UNDP).