APEC Oceans Ministers Meeting Begins Friday

The Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, H.E. Muhammad Jusuf Kalla, will open the 2nd APEC Ocean-Related Ministerial Meeting (AOMM2) in Bali on Friday, September 16.

Over two days of meetings, APEC Ministers will seek agreement on a series of measures to enhance environmental protection and strengthen marine-related industries including fisheries, tourism and energy.

The ministerial meeting will also seek cooperation from APEC Member Economies to take strong domestic action to overcome illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities in their jurisdictions.

This is the second meeting of Ministers responsible for oceans-related issues in the APEC region following the first meeting in Seoul, Korea, in 2002. At the first meeting Ministers adopted the 'Seoul Oceans Declaration' that outlined priorities for managing environmental concerns while ensuring sustainable oceans-related industries. At the second meeting this week Ministers will assess progress made in the implementation of the declaration and agree on future plans to meet oceans-related objectives.

With oceans-related issues covering a wide range of issues and sectors, the meeting will contribute to the work programs of several APEC fora and provide input to the Leaders' and Ministers' Meetings in November.

The meeting will be co-chaired by Indonesia's Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, H.E. Freddy Numberi, and Canada's Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Hon. Geoff Regan.

A news conference will be held on Saturday at 16:30 (Central Indonesia time). Media organizations are invited to submit questions online and these will be put to ministers at the news conference.
A Webcast of the news conference will be made available following the news conference.