The Director of European Economic and Trade Office (EETO), Filip Grzegorzewski, met Minister Lee, Chung-Wei of Ocean Affairs Council (OAC) on May 12th to exchange opinions related to marine debris governance, circular economy, marine conservation, and renewable energy.
Minister Lee, Chung-Wei said Taiwan is the first country to designate “World Oceans Day” on June 8th as our “National Oceans Day”, which means we place great emphasis on ocean issues. After the enactment of the Ocean Basic Act, a White Paper on National Ocean Policy compiled by OAC is currently under deliberation by the Executive Yuan.
Recently, OAC actively promotes the "Salute to the Sea Policy" including 3 components for implementation. The first step is to clean up the ocean, the second step is to open waters surrounding Taiwan to the public, and the third step is to promote and serve public convenience every marine recreational activities. Both Taiwan and EU highly lay stress on the development of marine energy and conservation. As a result, Taiwan has made outstanding achievements in recycling and reusing of marine debris. Through this opportunity, we could establish a cooperative platform for Taiwan-EU on ocean affairs. It aims at deepening the Taiwan-EU partnership and promoting the outcomes of ocean sustainable development.
The Director, Filip Grzegorzewski said he was very pleased to visit Kaohsiung for the first time. EETO has been organizing the beach clean-up event every September. Besides, EU is dedicated to working on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and we believe that we will have more opportunities for cooperation regarding ocean affairs. Recently, Taiwan’s performance in containing the COVID-19 pandemic is quite a success. Taiwan is expected to be a model of excellence in maritime affairs around the world.
Minister Lee also mentioned that OAC will hold the "Taiwan International Ocean Forum 2020" on November 5th. OAC sincerely invites EETO and the public to participate in this event if the COVID-19 pandemic is well-controlled.
