The FINANCIAL — Officials and experts from Black Sea coastal countries (Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania) gathered in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa on June 14 to discuss regional cooperation in the blue economy.
The event serves as a platform for an in-depth debate on marine and maritime issues in the Black Sea, and offers an overview of ideas to stimulate blue growth and develop partnerships across sectors and interest groups, in order to maximize economic benefits for coastal communities and coastal states’ economies. The European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella is participating in the event, according to EU Neighbourhood Info.
“In the EU we have already adopted an integrated approach to maritime policy – one that takes the whole ’sea system’ into account,” Commissioner Vella said at the conference opening. “Our experience in the Baltic, the Atlantic, and Adriatic-Ionian shows that when all parties agree to work together in a structured way on a few pragmatic areas, this improves the investment climate in the region. And with that come new businesses, jobs, economic growth,” he added.
“The model of an integrated maritime policy may become our effective common response to the multi-faceted challenges we are facing today in the Black Sea region, as well as the tool to realise new opportunities which become available within the emerging phenomenon of the ‘blue economy’,” Ukraine’s Vice Prime-Minister Volodymyr Kistion said, adding that the country is keen to use advanced EU expertise in this area to accelerate systemic reforms in its coastal regions.
The Black Sea is an important transport corridor between Europe and Asia, a tourist destination and an emerging market with space for cooperation and sound competition, said a press release from the EU. The conference aims to tackle existing challenges by taking all relevant parties on board, finding avenues for cooperation and identifying funding opportunities that will enable sustainable solutions.
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