Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen today said that sharing best practices would be the key for Bangladesh and the ASEAN countries to strengthen collaboration in the sustainable aquaculture and fisheries sector.

He made the remark while inaugurating the ASEAN-Bangladesh international workshop on aquaculture and fisheries in Mymensingh, a foreign ministry press release said today. The inaugural session was attended by, among others, heads of ASEAN Missions in Dhaka, representatives of the Food and Agricultural Organisation, top bureaucrats, policymakers, researchers, and participants from ten ASEAN countries and Bangladesh.

The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, in association with the Ministry of Foreign, Department of Fisheries and ASEAN Secretariat, have organised the three-day seminar titled “Towards sustainable Aquaculture: An ASEAN Bangladesh Initiative on Antibiotic Stewardship, Good Practice and Cluster Farming”. It is expected that the experts from ASEAN and Bangladesh will share their experiences and best practices and eventually come up with sets of recommendations to forge new collaborations between Bangladesh and ASEAN in the aquaculture sector.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also arranged visits to historical places, Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI), and fisheries projects in Mymensingh for the visiting Heads of Missions and diplomats from ASEAN countries. The Bangladesh government has recently taken a number of initiatives to broaden its engagement with the ASEAN in its efforts to become a Sectoral Dialogue Partner of ASEAN, said the foreign ministry.

This workshop is a part of ASEAN-Bangladesh Cooperation Project on Fisheries which is being funded by the Bangladesh government and will be rounded off on March 5 in Cox’s Bazar. The remaining part of the project, a training programme and seminar, will be organised in Jakarta this year.