Senior representatives of the Governments of Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka met at Chennai on 26 April 2003 to sign the agreement on the Institutionalisation of the Bay of Bengal Programme as an Inter – Governmental Organisation (BOBP-IGO). Mr Abdul Rasheed Hussain, Hon’ble Minister of Fisheries, Agriculture and Marine Resources, Republic of Maldives accompanied by Mr Ahmed Hafiz, Assistant Director General (Fisheries) visited Chennai on 21 May 2003 to sign the Agreement.
The signing ceremony, held in the glittering Wallajah Banquet Hall of Hotel Taj Connemara began with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp. Dr Y S Yadava, Interim IGO Coordinator of the Bay of Bengal Programme welcomed the invitees to the ceremony.
Dr Daniel Gustafson, FAO representative in India & Bhutan in his welcome and introductory remarks said that “this event has been a long time in the making and it is an honour for me to be here for this occasion and represent this Food and Agriculture Organization at signing of the BOBP-IGO Agreement”. He thanked the member-countries present at the ceremony in ensuring the transformation of the BOBP into an Inter-Governmental Organisation.
Representative of Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka made brief statements on behalf of their Governments and expressed their happiness on the establishment of the BOBP-IGO. Inaugurating the meeting, Ms Bino Sen, Secretary to the Government of India, congratulated the four member-countries in coming together to set up the BOBP-IGO. She noted that the BOBP-IGO is a co-operative, multi-disciplinary and regional endeavour, the first of its kind in the region and expressed confidence that it would facilitate important programmes and interventions to benefit small-scale fisheries. She urged other members of the BOBP to join the IGO to strengthen it and share its benefits.
Mr Hussain noted with gratitude the services that BOBP had provided to the region since 1979. He said, “Maldives had benefited from a number of different projects. One of the most successful BOBP projects implemented in the Maldives was the Integrated Reef Resources Management Programme”. He had no doubts that the under the new status of BOBP, Maldives would have equally fruitful collaborations that would benefit the fishing communities throughout the Bay of Bengal region.