ID :
339726
Tue, 09/02/2014 - 08:02
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APEC Agrees To Cooperate In Development Of Blue Economy

Jakarta, Sept 2 (Antara) - Marine Affairs Ministers and high ranking officials of 21 member countries of Asia Pacific Economic Forum (APEC) countries have agreed to focus cooperation in development of "blue economy". The agreement to make "blue economy" as the main focus of APEC cooperation has been confirmed in the Xainmen declaration approved in the recent APEC ocean-related ministerial meeting (AOMM4) in Xiamen, China, Indonesian Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sharif C. Sutarjo said. There are three fields of cooperation in priority, Sharif said in a statement here on Monday. "First is conservation of ecosystem and coastal areas and resistance to natural disasters," he said. The second is the contribution of the seas to food security and food related trade, and the third concerns marine affairs science, technology and innovation, he added. The Xianmen declaration would be implemented by adopting previous commitment with integrated action, he said. The minister of Marine Affairs and Fishery Sharif C Sutardjo stated that the concept of blue economy has emphasized the importance of sustainable marine management to improve economic growth for people`s welfare. "Blue economy encourages development of new marine-based industries," the minister said. He said development of blue economy would also contribute to development other industries, such as wind and wave energies, deep sea oil and gas mining, marine fishery, and marine biotechnology. He said blue economy has been successfully developed in Indonesia such as in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, and Nusa Peninda, Bali, in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). He said it is necessary to involve the private sector in the development of blue economy. Involvement of the private sector is is in line with the spirit of APEC cooperation, he added. Experience showed that only with strong partnership, marine resources could contribute to boosting economic growth, especially through investment, technology, he said. He said involvement of the private sector constitutes part of efforts to strengthen international commitment and cooperation to develop blue economy and regional action plan for "sustainable ocean governance".

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