Egypt promotes collaborative blue economy projects

CAIRO – 12 May 2017: Egypt participated in the second Blue Economy Ministerial Conference, organized by Indian Oceans Rim Association (IORA), between May 8 and 10 at Jakarta, Indonesia.

Blue economy, a concept of environmentally conscious business, is an extension of the green economy concept but one that deals with businesses that operate on oceans instead of lands. The blue economy is one of IORA’s six priority fields identified at the association’s summit in March.

The idea of the “blue economy” was initiated at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012.

At the Blue Economy Ministerial Conference, Egypt's Ambassador to Indonesia, Amr Moawad, headed the Egyptian delegation at the conference, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday. Moawad articulated the prospects of launching collaborative blue economy projects among the members of the association.

Vice President of Indonesia, Muhammad Jusuf Kalla, inaugurated the conference along with IORA’s secretary general, Indonesia’s minister of foreign affairs, and senior representatives of other participating countries.

A sustainable ocean economy aims to balance economic activity with the long term capacity, resilience, and health of the oceans. The blue economy deals with countries with coastlines and strives to expand the focus and applicability of sustainable green economy principles.