SWOT Analysis of Stand in Geopolitics of Bangladesh's Maritime Sector in Achieving Vision 2041

Author: Khalid Mahmud Bappy, Shazid Hossain Adib, Fatema Tuj Jerin, Md Al Mehedi Hasan Talukder, Sunanda Majumda
DOI: doi.org/10.70279/bmj-v6-i1-1066

Vision 2041, a continuation of Digital Bangladesh Vision 2021 and a development path aimed by Bangabandhu has begun to be implemented by eliminating the existing demand gap while meeting the new demand ahead. Bangladesh has 1,47,570 square kilometers of land and 2,07,000 square kilometers of sea area to implement findings to achieve 2041. Surrounding this vast sea area of Bay of Bengal, directly influential countries like Srilanka, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Sumatra of Indonesia share their shores, and Bangladesh has direct influence over landlocked regions of India’s seven sisters- Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh- Nepal, Bhutan. These direct and indirect interests through littoral and landlocked, make Bangladesh geopolitically important in the BOB region. All those Conventional ocean forces of these regions and beyond continue to work together to maintain a balance of power across maritime areas, but the archipelago's role in shaping new security architecture as well as the basement is often overlooked. Developing regional cooperation among the neighboring countries may build the geopolitical influences in order to handle the issues such as- security concerns, drug prevention, piracy and robbery, natural calamities, sea-level rise etc. As the geopolitical salience of the ocean increases, maritime development will come to assume a critical role. Aside from Bangladesh, many of the other littoral countries are acquiring a more pronounced maritime orientation and developing closer links with one another. Geographical relevance, it is said that in geopolitics, geography plays a vital role in influencing peace and security in the region. Bangladesh needs effective maritime governance and maritime domain awareness by all littoral states. It needs soft power geopolitics practices together with regional integration a strategic alliance. These can be achieved bridging through dialogues. Based on this condition, swot analysis of Bangladesh's maritime sector was needed to find out its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Large sea area, Surrounding landlocked, directly and indirectly influenced regions, geopolitical neutrality are identified as strengths; Security threats, costly ports, Economic slowdown, poor presence in global Associations and lower lands are identified as weaknesses; possibility of becoming hub of economic corridors, land bridge to seven sisters Nepal and Bhutan, energy and mining, trade agreements, indirect pressurizing possibilities are identified as opportunities; Competitions in economic corridors, missing economic goals, less pressure in seaports, inequitable sharing of benefits, sinking of southern regions are identified as threats. Evaluating those analyzed points, few strategies- Budget Increment, Ocean research and oil gas production, regional cooperation, skilled maritime human resources, diplomatic opportunity- are developed to achieve Vision 2041. In this journal, it endeavors to resolve how Bangladesh is responding to the challenges of maritime governance and harvest from the sea to reach the vision 2041 implementation.