<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
(31st October, 2019, Xiamen)<\/p>\n
Oration in the Opening Ceremony of Ministerial
\nWorkshop on Marine Management and Blue Economic
\nDevelopment for BRI Countries
\nAthill Dean Jonas, Minister, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and
\nBarbuda Affairs of Antigua and Barbuda<\/p>\n
Hon. Mr. Zhang Yigong, Vice Mayer, Xiamen Municipal Government,
\nP.R. China,
\nHon. Mr. Alvin Martin Da Breo, Minister, Ministry of Climate
\nResilience, the Environment, Forestry, Fisheries, Disaster Management
\nand Information of Grenada with responsibility for Forestry and
\nFisheries,
\nOfficials, ladies and gentlemen,
\nIt gives me great pleasure to join with you all to discuss the very
\nimportant and timely issue of Marine Management and Blue Economic
\nDevelopment in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative which was
\nconceptualized and is now being implemented by the Government and
\nPeople of China. The other members of my delegation from the
\nCaribbean island of Antigua and Barbuda, halfway across the globe,
\nwere also delighted to accept the invitation to participate in the
\nworkshop which is being opened today! Our two countries have had
\nfriendly diplomatic relations since 1983 or over thirty-six years ago. We
\nhave shared our experiences, exchanged ideas, participated in cultural
\nexchanges and learned from each other over the past three decades.
\nAntigua and Barbuda continues to value this relationship and the
\nsignificant investment that the Government and People of China have
\nmade in our nation\u2019s development. We are therefore confident that we
\ncan also explore mutually beneficial avenues of cooperation as we seek
\nto develop a sustainable marine management system and blue economic
\nmodel that will stand the test of time and assist in preserving our most
\nimportant resources, our people.
\nThe oceans are central to sustainable development globally, and
\nparticularly for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and coastal least
\ndeveloped countries (LDCs). An ocean-based blue economy can include
\ndiverse components, from established ocean industries, such as
\nfisheries, tourism and maritime transport, to emerging and new
\nactivities, such as offshore renewable energy, aquaculture, deep seabed
\nextractive activities (where sustainable), and marine biotechnology. The
\nmix of activities will depend on each country\u2019s unique national
\ncircumstances but will go beyond business as usual by providing social
\nand economic benefits for current and future generations.
\nThe ocean economy in the Caribbean is estimated to generate gross
\nrevenues of US$407 billion which is equivalent to over 15% of the
\nestimated value of the global ocean economy (World Bank, 2016). This
\nis particularly significant as the Caribbean Sea covers less than one
\npercent of the area of the global ocean. Some of the important steps into
\ntransitioning to a blue economy are an increased reliance on
\nevidence-based decision making and innovative financing to direct
\ninvestments into economic activities that can enhance ocean health. This
\nis particularly important in the Caribbean where the impacts of natural
\ndisasters and climate change are some of the challenges facing a blue
\neconomy. The 2017 hurricane season is a good example of this, with
\ndamages in our sister island of Barbuda, that accounted for losses of
\n15% of GDP in Antigua and Barbuda. The uninsured loss to the region
\nfrom Hurricane Irma alone are estimated at approximately $15 billion
\nand insured loss of $40 billion. From Hurricane Maria loss estimates are
\nbetween $27 and $48 billion.
\nThe reality is for small island developing states like ours in the
\nCaribbean, the marine environment is a valuable resource and leaders
\nmust develop a sustainable Blue Economy so that the region can
\nbecome resilient to climate change and extreme events. In this context,
\nAntigua and Barbuda will be hosting a conference in 2020 which is
\ndesigned to bring together Ministers, policymakers and technicians
\nresponsible for oceans, fisheries and shipping from Caribbean countries
\nto explore opportunities for collaboration to pursue sustainable
\nsolutions.
\nThis blue economy seminar in China which opens here today is
\ntherefore a timely one and will provide important input into the planning
\nprocesses for our regional conference in Antigua and Barbuda in March
\n2020. We look forward to support from China to facilitate this
\nconference.
\nI express our profound thanks to the Government and People of
\nChina for hosting this seminar in Fujian Province. It is my hope that our
\ndeliberations during the comprehensive program we have before us will
\nbe productive and the friendships formed will be long lasting.
\nThank you all very much.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(31st October, 2019, Xiamen) Oration in the Opening Ceremony of Ministerial Workshop on Marine Management and Blue Economic Development for BRI Countries Athill Dean Jonas, Minister, Ministry of Agriculture, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-notices"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1036"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1037,"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1036\/revisions\/1037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}