The Pacific Community (SPC) and the European Union (EU) have Monday signed a funding agreement which will contribute to the development of a Pacific Regional One Maritime Framework.
The Framework is a response to the request from the Pacific Transport Ministers during the 2023 Pacific Energy and Transport Ministerial Meeting held in Port Vila, Vanuatu. It aims to address and respond to the needs, priorities, challenges and emerging issues in the maritime sector in the Pacific focussing on safety and security, decarbonisation efforts, cost and access for remote communities.
With funding support from the EU, SPC will coordinate the process of developing the framework that will bring together critical ocean partners in an open, consultative and robust manner towards a genuine way forward for the maritime sector in the Pacific.
Speaking at the launch, the European Union Ambassador to the Pacific, Barbara Plinkert, emphasised the importance of this support for the EU and for the Pacific.
“This Pacific One Maritime Framework aims to foster a safe, resilient, green, clean, digital, and gender-just maritime transport sector for the Blue Pacific. All values and priorities are shared by the EU. In fact, there is convergence in all of the priority areas of the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent with the Pacific Protocol of the Partnership Agreement between the EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, also called the Samoa Agreement that was signed in Samoa last year and entered provisionally into force on 1 January this year.”
The Director-General of the Pacific Community, Dr Stuart Minchin, acknowledged the support from the EU for this important regional strategy.
“The ocean really is the backbone of our region. Getting food to our markets, accessing our health services and sending our kids to school requires maritime transport, but for the future of our region, we need to ensure it is safe, reliable, accessible and green. This work needs many hands and many partners to make it a reality, and I call on all maritime communities and those in the sector to actively engage with the development of the One Maritime Framework to ensure we can work towards the future for our Blue Pacific,” he said.
Acting Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Works & Meteorological Services, Fiji, George Tavo, was present at today’s signing and highlighted how sea transport is the lifeline of Pacific Island countries and in Fiji, the maritime sector provides the necessities of life to our maritime communities.
“In considering the importance of the Maritime Industry to Fiji and our Pacific Island neighbours, Fiji will support the creation of the Pacific One-Maritime Framework. We look forward to participating in future consultations and meetings. We thank the EU for pledging its support, and we thank the SPC for taking on this important assignment,” he said.
The EU funding of FJD$338,790 (EUR 140,000) will contribute to the consultation process and staff costs to support this process. This work will be implemented in a partnership-based manner with consultations regionally and nationally. The Pacific Community will be co-implementing this work with partners all over the Pacific region, including the International Maritime Organization (IMO), SPREP and PRIF.
PACNEWS
