Another public university planned in Bangladesh, specialised in blue economy

The government is planning to establish a specialised public university in Cox’s Bazar focused on the blue economy, following a directive from Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to the Education Ministry. The proposed institution, to be named University of Blue Economy Sciences and Technology, would focus on higher education, research, practical training and developing skilled human resources in marine and coastal sectors.

Home Minister and Cox’s Bazar-1 lawmaker Salahuddin Ahmed said the prime minister issued the directive after receiving a semi-official letter from him. He disclosed the information on his verified Facebook page on Monday afternoon. The minister also shared the semi-official letter sent to the prime minister.

In the letter, Salahuddin Ahmed said Bangladesh’s Bay of Bengal and coastal areas hold significant potential for marine resources, but the country still lacks sufficient specialised higher education, research, practical training and skilled manpower to fully utilise them. He said establishing a specialised university in Cox’s Bazar could therefore be an important initiative in the national interest.

The letter proposed using the existing facilities of the Bangladesh Oceanographic Research Institute (BORI) in Cox’s Bazar to launch the university’s initial academic and practical activities.

According to the letter, establishing a completely new university from scratch would require considerable time, funding and separate infrastructure. In contrast, BORI already has laboratories, research facilities, scientific personnel, training infrastructure and a coastal research framework that could support the proposed university in its initial phase.

The institute is already established in Cox’s Bazar as a national marine research organisation.

“As a result, it would be possible to begin teaching, research, training and internship programmes using its existing facilities in areas such as oceanography, fisheries and aquaculture, marine environment, coastal resource management, blue economy, marine data, tourism and hospitality. This would allow a research-oriented, practical and real-world university to be launched quickly without waiting for long-term infrastructure development.”

The minister said the initiative could also ensure better use of Bangladesh’s existing national research infrastructure related to the blue economy while creating an effective institution for developing skilled human resources in the sector.

“If implemented, the initiative would, on the one hand, ensure optimal use of the country’s existing national research infrastructure related to the blue economy and, on the other, establish an effective institution for developing skilled human resources for Bangladesh’s blue economy sector.”

In the concluding part of the letter, the home minister sought the prime minister’s approval to take the necessary steps to establish the University of Blue Economy Sciences and Technology in Cox’s Bazar based on the existing academic and research facilities of BORI. The proposed university is yet to be formally established, and further administrative and institutional processes will be required before it can begin academic activities.