PRIMEX News

PRIMEX works 'behind the scenes' in
forging global vision for the world oceans

Posted on 7 May 2009

PRIMEX helped the Government of Indonesia (GOI) in its efforts to draw global attention to the critical link between oceans and climate change, as it played a vital supporting role in the recently-concluded, highly-successful World Ocean Conference (WOC) 2009 in Manado, North Sulawesi Province, Indonesia.

PRIMEX, recognized for its expertise in coastal and marine resource management, was engaged by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to provide technical advisory assistance and support to the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF), through the Agency for Marine Fisheries Research (AMFR) in the organization of the landmark gathering of world leaders and stakeholders in the marine sector last 11-15 May 2009. The meeting was attended by close to 3,000 participants from 120 countries, including ministers, high-level government officials, heads of several multilateral and non-governmental organizations, the private sector, academe, and research institutions.

WOC 2009 consisted of a number of parallel events, the most important of which were the intergovernmental high-level meetings, which culminated in the signing of the Manado Ocean Declaration (MOD) by heads of government delegations; the international Ocean Science, Technology, and Policy Symposium, which discussed a wide range of ocean-related topics in 30 technical sessions at which 482 technical papers were presented; and Global Ocean Policy Day (GOPD), which was designed as an opportunity for multi-stakeholder dialogue on the importance of the oceans in climate change, mitigation and adaptation strategies, and financing issues.

A highlight of WOC 2009 was the historic Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) Leaders' Summit, which brought together the Heads of State of the six Southeast Asian and Pacific countries that make up the Coral Triangle: Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste. The six leaders, including Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, agreed on a wide-ranging plan to protect one of the world's largest networks of coral reefs, promising to reduce pollution, eliminate overfishing, and improve the livelihoods of impoverished coastal communities. The Coral Triangle accounts for a third of the world's coral reefs and 35 percent of coral reef fish species.

Ms. Elvira Ablaza, PRIMEX President and CEO, said she felt so privileged to have been able to work with high-level GOI officials and senior staff of Indonesia's development partners in co-organizing the Conference and ensuring its success. She also expressed personal satisfaction in having been able to make a contribution to the Indonesian-led initiative to increase cooperation between nations on managing marine resources in the context of climate change and increase understanding of the role of oceans in regulating global climate.

"I was thrilled for PRIMEX to be part of the awareness-building for the world community to include oceans into the larger debate about climate change, especially in preparations for the next round of discussions on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) scheduled in Copenhagen in December 2009. Healthy marine ecosystems have very important roles in regulating global warming and responses to climate change,” said Ms. Ablaza, who was also the Marine and Coastal Resource Management (MCRM) Specialist of the PRIMEX Technical Assistance Team (TAT) for WOC 2009.

While the original intent was for the TAT to extend mainly technical advice and guidance in the planning and preparations for specific events, viz., the international symposium and GOPD, the TAT ended up being involved in almost everything that had to do with Conference organization – from the preparation of the Delegates’ Handbook to the editing of all the technical abstracts for the international symposium to the contracting of the IISD conference reporting service and various other logistics and liaison work.

While the assignment was very challenging and highly demanding, especially since the Team was brought in only two months before the event, the PRIMEX Team found the strong collaboration and cooperation of the national and local organizing committees most rewarding.

“It was most gratifying that our hard work was fully appreciated by our counterparts at the Manado Local Organizing Committee and by senior officials of the National Organizing Committee,” said Leo Pura, PRIMEX Senior Manager for Technical Services who served as International Assistant Program Coordinator of the TAT.

At the closing session of the International Symposium, the PRIMEX TAT was invited to the stage to be publicly acknowledged for all their efforts in ensuring the success of the Symposium.

And after the closing session of the CTI Partnership Dialogue, Indonesian Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi personally thanked Ms. Ablaza and her Team for their valuable assistance and support in the organization of WOC 2009. ADB Vice President Lawrence Greenwood, Deputy Director General Thomas Crouch, and Director Urooj Malik, who were all present at that time, all echoed Minister Numberi's words of appreciation and congratulated the PRIMEX TAT for an excellent job. (Arvin Yana /PRIMEX)

More photos from WOC 2009/CTI Summit:

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